Life As We Know It
by theINTERSECT
Summary: Chuck and Sarah are two single adults that become joint guardians to a pair of orphaned twins when their mutual best friends die in an accident. Having only seen each other around once while prior, they move into their friends' house to take care of the twins. Living together, they get to know each other and a new relationship develops. A journey of parenthood and newfound love.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys. So I'm back with yet another story. (: This time, I'm planning for it to be a multi-chapter arc...so I will be writing this story alongside my other ongoing multi-chapter arc, Chuck vs the Dads (LOL hopefully I'll be able to churn out chapters fast enough to update regularly).

If any of you have watched the movie 'Life As We Know It', you may have a general idea of what this story is about. Throughout the story, I will be using some ideas from the movie, but of course, I will not be following it to its entirety (then it would be kinda redundant haha). :P Many things will or have been changed, and it has different charaters in it, so if you didn't like the movie, do still give this story a try (:

Because this story is kinda AU (with the setting and what the characters do and such), here is a bit of background information to get you started:

- Chuck is best friends with Bryce, and Sarah is best friends with Carina. They are are all in their mid-twenties...so about 24-26 years old.

- Bryce and Carina are both retired agents, and are married with a set of twins - Sophie and Tyler.

- Sarah works for the CIA as a field agent. She does not know Chuck works for the CIA at this point.

- Chuck works for the CIA as a tech analyst, his cover job is the Buymore. He does not know that Sarah works for the CIA at this point.

Soo...you're all set for now...hopefully.

And enough of my ramblings. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck...and any mistakes are mine (hopefully there aren't many) :)

* * *

It was a beautiful sunny summer afternoon. The sun shone brightly, its rays streaming through the leaves of the large oak trees standing tall in the front lawn of a large cottage style house with a white exterior. The front porch was littered with a plethora of kids' toys, and helium balloons with 'Happy Birthday' and 'The Party's Here' written on them were tied all over the wooden railings.

Inside, Bryce and Carina were getting ready for their twins' first birthday party. Putting the finishing touches on the cake, Carina licked a dollop of leftover icing off her finger.

Outside, a black Porshe pulled up in the driveway. Stepping out of the car, Sarah walked over to the passenger side and grabbed her handbag and the presents she'd gotten her godchildren for their first birthday. Juggling the presents in her arms, she walked up the steps of the porch and let herself in.

Placing the presents in the pile of presents that had already accumulated in the entranceway, she sauntered through the house in search for her best friend. Using her stealthy spy skills, she quickly located Carina and the twins in the kitchen. Sneaking up behind her, she tapped her on the shoulder. 'Hey.'

Swivelling around with the twins in her arms, Carina let out a smile. 'You made it.'

Sarah smiled. 'Of course I did. I wouldn't miss it for the world.' Taking the baby girl from Carina's arms, she tickled the little girl's belly. 'Isn't that right, Sophie?'

Sophie giggled. Her twin brother, jealous of the attention she was getting, began squirming in Carina's arms. Sarah dropped her handbag on the counter and held out an arm for him. 'Hi Tyler.' Tyler gladly moved from his mom's arms into Sarah's.

'Who's turning one today?' Sarah asked the twins in her arms.

Tyler and Sophie both raised their hands.

'That's right.' Carina said, smoothing out Sophie's hair. 'My little babies are turning one.'

Just then, Tyler let out a large, whooping big fart. _PTH_!

'Aww, Tyler. That stinks.' Sarah exclaimed with a smile on her face.

Tyler gave her a devious smile, whilst Carina took him back in her arms. 'Come on. Let's get you changed.'

* * *

Guests were slowly drifting into the backyard through the side gate. The grass and patio were littered full with celebratory decorations. Chuck grabbed a sprite from a passing waiter and took a seat next to Bryce on the patio. 'Hey.'

'Hey dude. What's up?' Bryce greeted cheerfully.

'Nothing much.' Chuck said, taking a swig from the bottle.

'How's work?'

'You mean the job 'job' or the cover 'job'?' Chuck asked.

Bryce chuckled. 'Both.'

'Stressful as usual.' He let out a sigh. 'Ever since you left, I haven't really gotten anywhere new with the programme. The heads are really putting down the pressure on me now.' He took another sip of his drink. 'As for the Buymore...well, let's just say dealing with all the drama between Morgan, Jeff and Lester is tiring enough.'

Bryce shook his head in sympathy. 'Glad I left that.'

Chuck gave him a light punch in the shoulder. 'You lucky guy. The dream girl, the dream house, the dream job, the dream family. You've got it all.'

Bryce nodded with a smile on his face. 'Happy as can be,' he said, turning to give Carina a wave in the kitchen before turning to look at Chuck. 'How 'bout you? Have you ever thought about settling down? Quitting the agency? You can come join me. Then we can go into business together and become world renounced freelance professional tech analysts.'

Chuck pursed his lips as he thought about it. Bryce returned his punch from earlier on. 'Come on. You know you want it.'

Chuck let out a sad laugh. 'They're never going to let me go now I'm the only one left on the project.'

'You haven't tried. I thought that for along while too – '

'But they still have me.'

'Okay. Well then, what about finding a girl?'

Chuck stifled a laugh. 'Even more hopeless in that area. I'm such a nerd. The word nerd and girl just don't go in the same sentence.'

'Just look at you. You're smart, tall and handsome. Who wouldn't fall for you?'

'Stop it.' Chuck said, clearly embarrassed.

* * *

Carina and Sarah stood in the kitchen finishing up the thank-you gifts. Carina had just handed Tyler and Sophie off to Bryce.

It was silent for a while, each girl concentrating on what they were doing. Then, staring out the window, Carina broke the silence. 'You see that guy sitting next to Bryce out there? The one in the black shirt and the navy jeans holding Sophie?'

Sarah looked up from the bow she was tying and located the man her friend had just described. 'Yeah?'

'Isn't he cute?'

Sarah shrugged, blushing slightly. 'I guess.'

'His name is Chuck.'

Adverting her glance from the window and finishing the bow off, she picked up an extra piece of ribbon and began fiddling with it. 'I know. I saw him at your wedding and your baby shower.'

'Why don't you go talk to him?'

'No.'

'Why not?'

She dropped the piece of ribbon and turned to look at Carina. 'Well firstly, if you're trying to get me to date him, it's not allowed in the agency. And secondly, I have absolutely no experience with guys - '

'You've had plenty of experience...' Carina joked.

'Carina.' She gave her friend a light punch on the shoulder. 'You know what I mean.'

'Come on.' Carina nudged her back. 'It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I mean, just look at me and Bryce. We both worked for the agency, but after months of denial, we finally decided to give it a shot. Look at how far we've come. For the first time in my life, I feel content. I'd never thought I would say this, but I actually enjoy being a housewife. Quitting the CIA was the best thing I'd ever done in my life.'

'I don't know.' Sarah said hesitantly.

* * *

'Hey. I'm going to go find Carina to see if we can get the festivities started. Do you think you can watch them for a while?' Bryce said, pointing to Sophie – who was asleep in Chuck's arms – and Tyler – who was playing with some cups and spoons next to Chuck's chair on the patio.

'No problem.' Chuck said

'Thanks.' Bryce said. 'Oh, and by the way, you're still up for the trip to the Maldives right? Carina and I are going to confirm the booking tonight.'

'Umm...sure.' Chuck looked over at Bryce. 'Send me the cost and I'll write you a check.'

'No. It's our treat – for being such a great godparent to our children.'

Chuck was about to object when Bryce stood up to leave. 'Gotta' go. Wife's calling. Catch you later.' He gave Chuck a light pat on the shoulder before walking into the house.

Staring down at the sleeping baby in his arms, he though about what Bryce had just asked him. _Do I want a family?_ He asked himself.

Tyler accidently threw a cup too far, and it landed in front of the sliding doors that led into the house. Desperate for his cup back, he abandoned everything he had in his hands and began crawling over to the stray cup.

'Tyler.' Chuck called. 'Tyler. Don't move. Let me get it for you.'

But Tyler didn't listen – he kept crawling towards his cup. Chuck chased after him carrying Sophie in his arms, trying not to wake her. 'Tyler, watch out.' Chuck warned the baby.

But it was too late. Tyler had already crashed into Sarah, who'd just come out of the sliding doors. He began crying, and Sarah scooped him up in her arms. 'It's okay, Tyler.' She said, stroking his head gently. 'Does it hurt?'

Tyler nodded. 'Let me give you a kiss.' Sarah said, kissing his head. 'Does it feel better now?'

Tyler nodded again, and his cries began to die down. Placing his thumb in his mouth, he leaned his head on Sarah's shoulder.

Sarah looked up and found Chuck standing in front of her. They stood staring at each other, neither person saying anything.

'Uhh...hi.' Sarah finally started, sticking out her right hand for him to shake.

'Hi.' He replied, frantically shifting Sophie into his left arm so he could shake her hand.

'I'm Sarah,' she introduced.

'I know.' Chuck smiled. 'The beautiful, mysterious best friend of my best friend's wife.'

'Mysterious?' Sarah asked with her eyebrows raised.

Chuck let out a nervous laugh, his face reddening with embarrassment. 'No, no...uh I thought it just made me sound more sophisticated.' He paused. 'I'm Chuck by the way.'

'You're a funny guy, Chuck.'

'Thanks.'

Just then, Tyler began squirming in her arms. 'What do you want buddy?' Sarah asked.

He pointed at the stray cup on the floor, and Sarah leaned down and retrieved it for him. She handed it to him, but he didn't get a firm grasp on it. It clattered onto the floor again.

'I've got it.' Carina said, sauntering over. Picking up the cup off the ground, she took her son back in her arms. Straightening up, she turned and saw Chuck staring.

'Hi Chuckie!' She greeted.

'Uhh...Hi.' He stammered, overwhelmed by how many beautiful people were standing in front of him.

Carina gave him a bright smile, before leaning in to whisper something into Sarah's ear. 'So you did listen to my advice.'

Sarah was about to object and tell her what happened when Carina gave her a slap on the butt before walking away. 'Way to go girl.'

Sarah felt her cheeks reddening as she watched her friend walk off. 'That's Carina for you.'

Turning back to Chuck, she found him staring at her. There was another long, awkward pause.

'Umm...I'm just going to go to the bathroom.' Sarah said, using her thumb to point to the house.

Chuck broke his trance. 'What? Uhh...sorry. Yeah. Go ahead.' He rambled. 'I'm just going to return Sophie to her parents.'

'Okay,' Sarah said with a smile.

'Okay,' Chuck said, smiling back.

However, they both stood grounded to their spot.

'Yeah...I'm going to go now,' Sarah said awkwardly.

'Yeah.'

They both turned and walked away at the same time to perform their respective tasks.

* * *

The party was a great success. Tyler and Sophie both had a blast, and they were both exhausted. The caterers were cleaning up in the kitchen and getting ready to leave. The number of guests slowly dwindled down until Chuck and Sarah were the only ones left.

Chuck was outside with Bryce cleaning up the garden and the patio, whilst Sarah headed in with Carina to put the twins to bed.

'So,' Carina started.

'Yeah?' Sarah said, watching her friend wrestle an onesie onto her daughter.

'The Maldives trip. Are you free?'

'Umm...I should be. That is, if the CIA doesn't decide to spring an impromptu mission on me.' Sarah said.

'Great. Then I'll confirm the booking tonight.'

'Okay.'

Just then, Sarah felt her phone vibrate once, indicating that she had a new text. Pulling her phone out, she read the contents of the text before replacing the phone in her pocket. 'Gotta' go. Duty calls.'

'Go save the world, my friend.' Carina joked.

Sarah laughed at her friend's antics. 'See you around.'

* * *

**One Week Later**

**Bartowski Residence, 8pm**

Chuck finally got home after working overnight the previous night. Walking into his apartment, he threw his keys into the bowl and jumped straight into the shower.

He found that he couldn't really focus the past week. He'd spent a lot of his time thinking about Sarah. I mean, it wasn't like he hadn't seen her around before, but the encounter they had at the party was just...different. It was different than before.

When he came out of the shower, he found that he had one missed call and that it had gone to voicemail. Grabbing some orange juice out of the fridge, he pressed the 'play voicemail button.'

'You have 1 message.' There was a brief silence. Mr Bartowski, this is the Child Protection Services Centre. We have Sophie and Tyler Larkin in custody now. As their guardian, we ask you to come collect them as soon as possible. Thank you.'

Re-dialing the number, he found that the line was busy. Searching up the address of the Child Protection Services centre, Chuck grabbed his keys and rushed out the door.

* * *

**LAX, 8:10pm**

Sarah had just finished a week long mission in Milan. Carrying a large duffle bag, she walked out of the departure hall in search for a taxi. She couldn't wait to get back to her apartment – her muscles ached of fatigue, and she craved a long, warm, bubbly bath and lots of sleep.

She was half way to the taxi stand when her phone began vibrating. Stepping to one side, she dropped her heavy duffle bag on the ground and reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. 'Hello?'

'Ms Walker?' The person on the phone asked.

'Yes speaking.'

'This is Kristin Woods, a caseworker from the Child Protective Services centre. I am calling about Sophie and Tyler Larkin.'

Sarah was confused. _Why are they calling about Sophie and Tyler? Bryce and Carina are perfectly capable parents._

'Ms Walker?'

'I'm sorry. I just zoned out a little there.' Sarah said, placing a hand on her forehead. 'Yes? What about the kids?'

'We have Sophie and Tyler in custody now. As their guardian, we ask you to pick them up from our centre as soon as possible.'

'What?' Sarah said in a worried voice. 'Why do you have them in custody?'

'I'm sorry, but I am not allowed to disclose such information across the phone. I will explain everything to you once you get here.'

'Okay...' Sarah said hesitantly as she began pacing back and forth around her duffle bag. 'Uhh...whereabouts are you located?'

'131 East Union Street, Pasadena.'

'Okay. Thanks. I'll be there soon.' Hanging up her phone, she hoisted her duffle bag onto her shoulder once more and hurried towards the taxi stand.

* * *

Sarah stepped into the Child Protective Services Centre and looked around, unsure of where she was supposed to be.

The receptionist looked up from her computer. 'Hi ma'am. Can I help you?'

'Uhh...yeah.' Sarah said, walking over to the receptionist's table. 'My name is Sarah Walker, and I'm here for Sophie and Tyler Larkin.'

'Okay. Hold on a minute.' The receptionist typed something into her computer. Then, standing up, she walked out from around her desk. 'This way please.'

They went up a couple of floors then walked down a couple of corridors. Looking around, Sarah was bewildered at how big the place was. And contrary to what she thought it would be – white, cold and unwelcoming – it was a rather nice place.

The receptionist finally came to a stop. 'Here. Your caseworker will be with you shortly.'

'Thanks.'

Peering into the room, she found Chuck sitting on a couch with his eyes half closed and Tyler and Sophie both fast asleep in his lap. Walking into the room, she set her duffle down by the door.

'Chuck?' She said in a quiet voice.

His eyes snapped open. Blinking a couple of times to get them to focus, he looked up and found Sarah standing by the door. 'Sarah? Why are you here?'

'I could ask you the same thing.' Sarah said.

Easing the twins off his lap and carefully placing them on the sofa, making sure not to wake them up, he stood up and walked towards Sarah. 'I got a call about the twins.'

'Me too.' She snuck a glance at Sophie and Tyler. 'Do you know what happened? Where are Carina and Bryce?'

'No. No one's told me anything. And I've tried calling them both, but neither of them picked up.'

Before Sarah could say anything, a voice at the door interrupted her. 'Mr Bartowski, Ms Walker, Ms Woods will see you now.'

* * *

Chuck walked into the caseworker's office with Sarah trailing closely behind him.

The caseworker looked up from her laptop. 'Please take a seat,' she said, pointing at the two chairs in front of the desk.

Chuck, being the gentleman he was, pulled out a chair for Sarah and waited for her to sit before he did so himself.

Shutting the laptop, the caseworker turned to look at the pair in front of her. 'Hi. I'm Kristin Woods. You can call me Kristin. I'll be your caseworker for the time being. I would like to start off by expressing my condolences for your loss.'

'Wha-what loss? I'm really confused here. Can somebody update me?' Chuck said in a jumbled mess.

Sarah knew it was not going to be good, so she braced herself for the worst.

Kristin let out a sad sigh as she lowered her eyes. 'I was hoping I wouldn't have to be the one to break it to you, but Carina and Bryce Larkin were involved in a car crash this afternoon. The driver of their car was drunk at the time of the crash...and unfortunately...' she paused as she sucked in a breath, '...they both passed away.'

Sarah let out a gasp as her hands immediately flew to her mouth. She leaned forward as Chuck leaned back in his chair, trying to contain the shock and control his emotions.

'I'm really sorry.' Kristin said sympathetically.

Sarah, having been through spy training, was able to control her emotions better. Choking back her tears and putting on a façade, she removed her hands from her mouth. 'What's going to happen to Sophie and Tyler?' She asked.

'It is the reason I have brought you two here.' Kristin started. Chuck held back his tears and sat back upright in his chair.

'Has Bryce and Carina ever talked to you about their guardianship arrangement?' She asked.

'Yes.' Chuck and Sarah answered together.

'Carina told me she had put me down as the twins' guardian...' Sarah started.

'...and Bryce told me he had put me down as their guardian.' Chuck finished.

Looking at the pair sitting in front of her, Kristin realized they'd both only been told snippets of their friends' guardianship arrangement. 'What you have both said is partly true. Bryce and Carina have named you two as joint guardians of their children.'

'Joint guardians? So as in together?'

'Yes Mr Bartowski.'

They both sat in silence, shocked at what they'd just found out.

_I barely know him._ Sarah thought to herself. _I've only seen him around a couple of times_..._heck, how are we going to raise two kids together?_

_Bryce. Buddy. _Chuck thought to himself. _What's happening?_

'Now if you're not comfortable with it – as in you don't think you want to or are able to take on the responsibility, I ask that you take it into much consideration. After all, it's two children's lives here we're talking about – '

'No.' Chuck said, looking over at Sarah, who gave him a small nod. 'We'll do it.'

Sarah didn't know why she just nodded her head. But it was Sophie and Tyler. She loved them with every fibre of her being and would do anything for them.

'Are you sure?' Kristin asked.

This time, they both nodded simultaneously. 'Yes.'

'Okay.' Kristin said as she picked up a pen and jotted something down in the folder. 'Great. Now for the logistics. Children adjust best in their own environment, so I would suggest you both move into their house – as hard as it may be - to take care of them.'

* * *

After a lot more talking and a bunch of paperwork, Kristin deemed Chuck and Sarah 'free to go'. Standing up, they shook hands with Kristin in turn as she handed them both a name card each. 'Here's my number. If I can be of any help, please let me know. Now if you would just wait outside my office for a couple of minutes, someone will be here shortly to bring you back to Sophie and Tyler.'

Upon exiting the room, Sarah found that she could no longer keep her composure anymore. Although she was still one of the best spies on the CIA, ever since Carina got married and had the twins, she found that she was no longer the cold-hearted, emotionally stunted spy she once was.

Leaning up against the wall outside the caseworker's office, she felt a few tears slip down her cheeks. Seeing Sarah cry, Chuck felt his eyes brimming with tears as well. Moving closer to her, he hesitantly put his arms around her. Feeling her lean in, he tightened his grasp on her and pulled her in for a hug.

'It's going to be okay.'

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed, and any reviews would be much appreciated! (:


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the immense response! I really enjoyed reading all your reviews, and they really gave me great motivation to continue. So, without further ado, here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck, and any mistakes are mine.

* * *

It was a starless night. Looking up, all you could see was a shade of midnight black and a faint half crescent – whether it was waning or waxing, Sarah didn't know. As a spy, she didn't have the time to follow this kind of stuff. Staring out window in the passenger seat, she watched the passing cars in the opposite lane. They all looked the same from the outside at this time of night: four wheels, four doors, a couple of windows and two glaring headlights. The difference was the people inside. In some, there would be happy couples going home after a nice meal out. In others, there would be husbands or dads returning home to their families after a long day at work. And then there was them: a pair of people broken and grieved by the loss of their best friends and a pair of innocent little twins, still unaware of the drastic change that has occurred in their lives.

Chuck pulled into the driveway of Bryce and Carina's house and shut off the engine. They sat in silence for a while, staring at the house before them. Finally, without saying anything, they both got out of the car and worked in unison, each unbuckling a baby from their respective car seat they had borrowed from the CPS and cradling them close as they made their way towards the front door. Chuck grabbed Sarah's duffle from the trunk – despite her protests – and carried it for her.

Standing on the porch, he pulled out a set of keys and fumbled around with them with his free hand, trying to look for the key to the front door. A light breeze blew by and Sarah let out a shiver. It was barely into fall, but night-time in California was always chilly year round.

Finally locating the right key, Chuck unlocked the door and eased it open. Slowly, they both made their way into the house and up the stairs to the nursery, not stopping to take a glance at the first floor.

Entering the nursery, Chuck set Sophie down in her crib. She was sleeping rather soundly, so the jostling didn't wake her. Sarah walked in after Chuck, and did the same with Tyler.

'I'll go warm the some milk just in case they're hungry later on.' Chuck said, setting her duffle down by the door of the room.

'Okay.' Sarah replied.

She watched as he exited the room and made his way down to the kitchen. Standing in the middle of the room, she looked over at Sophie, then at Tyler. Before she had time to think about anything, Tyler let out a cry. Walking over to his crib, Sarah picked him up and rocked him in her arms, trying to calm him down. But it didn't work – he continued crying incessantly. Then, feeling his diaper, she found that it was full. Carefully, she set Tyler down on the changing table and pulled his outfit off. Upon seeing the diaper, she froze. _I don't know how to do this._

At this very moment, Chuck re-entered the room holding two bottles of milk. 'What's the matter?' He asked, seeing Sarah frozen in front of a crying Tyler.

'I uh – I don't know how to do this.' Sarah stammered.

'Here.' He handed the two bottles of milk to Sarah before turning his attention to Tyler. Undoing the dirty diaper, he pulled it off, wrapped it up and placed it to one side. Grabbing a few baby wipes, he carefully wiped his butt before putting a new diaper on him.

As soon as he finished, Tyler stopped crying. 'All done.' He said, giving his belly a little tickle. He giggled happily as Sarah handed a bottle of milk to him. Pulling a set of pajamas on him, he placed him in his crib once more and repeated the same routine with Sophie.

* * *

**2 Hours Later**

The twins started crying as soon as they left the room, but after many attempts, they finally managed to get them to sleep. Sarah collapsed on the couch in the living room, running a hand through her hair as she let out a sigh. Letting out a small shiver, she pulled her thin grey cardigan on closer. Bryce and Carina always liked the AC on cold, but had Sarah always found it too cold for her liking.

Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch, Chuck looked over at Sarah. 'You okay?' He asked. Seeing her so worn out and run down, the sparks of happiness in her eyes from last week replaced with sadness and fear, he couldn't help but worry for her.

'Yeah.' Glancing around the first floor, she found it littered with traces of them. There were piles of laundry by the laundry room waiting to be done, a coat slung over the back of a chair waiting to be hung, and dishes in the sink in the kitchen waiting to be washed. And the pictures. There were pictures of their wedding, pictures of them, pictures of the kids. There was one particular picture that caught her eye.

'Chuck, how are we going to do this?' Following her gaze, he found himself looking at a picture of Bryce and Carina holding the twins the day they were born, with large smiles on their faces.

'I don't know.' He said softly. 'But they love Sophie and Tyler more than anything in the entire world...and out of everyone they could have picked, they picked us.'

'I don't know a thing about taking care of kids.' She protested. 'You saw me just now. I've watched Carina change a lot of diapers, but I've never changed one myself – '

'I'm sure there are things I don't know how to do that you're an expert in,' he cut in.

Sarah didn't know how to answer, so silence prevailed once more as they both stared at the picture. She felt heart warmed at his comment. No one had ever said something like that to her - not her parents, not Carina, not anyone. With her parents, her mom passed away when she was a little girl, and her dad never really took care of her. And Carina, well she was the closest thing she had to family besides her parents, but everything with Carina was a competition.

After a while, Chuck turned back to look at her. 'Let me ask you something.' He paused. 'Do you love them? Sophie and Tyler?'

Sarah adverted her glance from the picture to him. 'Of course.'

'And do you think you can trust me – a stranger that just so happens to be your best friend's husband's best friend?' Sarah let out a little laugh at his little ramble, her worry lines straightening out slightly. She hesitated for a moment, but finally gave him an answer. 'I suppose.' She didn't know what compelled her to say so, but he was just so genuine, warm and comforting. He was different.

'Then trust me when I say we can make this work. Together.' He finished. Reaching over, he placed a hand on top of her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The warmth of his hand sent sparks flying up her arm, and when he pulled away, she was almost disappointed. 'Sarah, your hands are freezing.' He exclaimed.

'It's okay. I'm used to it.' She said. But Chuck wouldn't hear any of it. Shrugging his jacket off, he reached over and wrapped it around her shoulders. In doing so, his arm accidentally brushed against her forehead and found that it was extremely warm. Moving closer to her, he placed a hand on her forehead. Sarah was surprised she didn't pull away out of natural instinct – she usually didn't like men touching her. But he was an exception.

'Sarah, you're burning up.'

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Chuck woke at the crack of dawn. Looking around, he realised he'd fallen asleep on top of the bedsheets in one of the guest rooms in the house, still fully dressed in his clothes from the previous day. Taking a glance at his watch, he realized it was only 5:30 in the morning. Staring up at the ceiling of the room, the events of the previous night flooded his mind.

He'd gone to bed at around 12:30 last night, wanting to make sure Sarah was okay. They'd each taken one of the many guest rooms in the house. It was a good thing she'd just come back from a trip – she had her duffle bag with her, which hosted all her basic necessities. She was easily able to grab a set of sleepwear out of it.

Tip-toeing through the house, he took a peek into the nursery and Sarah's room. Seeing that he probably had a couple of hours before anyone woke up, he decided to make a trip home to grab some stuff. He was a bit hesitant about leaving the twins with Sarah in her current state, but he knew that if anything happened, Sarah would be able to take care of it.

After leaving a short note on Sarah's door explaining where he was, he quietly made his way down the stairs and out the front door.

Arriving at his apartment, he quietly let himself in, not wanting to wake his sister and her husband. He knew they'd had a late night at the hospital, because they still weren't home when he had to leave for the CPS last night.

Walking down the hall and to his room, he grabbed a large duffle and began filling it with stuff he needed. All the basic necessities – clothes, shoes and toiletries.

He was almost done when he eyed a photo of him and Bryce at their Stanford graduation ceremony. Picking the photo up, he sat down on his bed and stared at the photo. He found it hard to comprehend that Bryce and Carina were gone.

'Chuck?' Ellie called, standing at the door of his room. 'Did you have a late night as well?'

He didn't answer as he was so focused on the photo.

'Chuck.' Ellie called again, now making her way into the room. Seeing the half packed duffle lying open on the bed, her eyes widened in surprise. 'Chuck, why are you packing?'

Chuck finally looked up, and found her standing in front of him. 'El.'

She saw the sullen look on his face and immediately knew something was wrong. 'What's wrong?' She asked softly, taking a seat beside him on his bed.

'Bryce and Carina...they're...' Chuck choked back his tears. '...they're both gone.'

'I'm so sorry.' Ellie said in a sympathetic tone, wrapping a protective arm around her little brother. 'Wait...what about their kids?'

'That's why I've been packing. They named me as one of the guardians of their twins...I've got to go take care of them.'

She watched as he stared at the photo of him and Bryce. There were tears brimming from his eyes, but he was obviously trying to keep them at bay. 'No Chuck. Cry it out. Keeping it in does nothing for you.'

* * *

On the way back to the house, Chuck stopped by the grocery store to buy some ingredients for his sister's famous homemade chicken noodle soup.

Turning the stove on, he dumped all the ingredients into a pot and let it simmer for a while.

Turning his computer on, he pulled up his email. Earlier on, he'd sent an email to Big Mike, asking for a couple of days off from the Buymore. After all, he didn't do much anyways, he just sat in the back and fixed computers. He'd also sent a memo off to Beckman and Graham, asking for a few days off from the CIA and the NSA. However, he didn't intend for that to go well. He hadn't been making much progress recently, so he didn't know how they would react.

* * *

Sarah woke to the sound of her phone ringing on the nightstand. Judging by how bright the room was, she knew that it was already late morning. Placing a hand on her forehead to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight that was streaming through the slits in the curtains, she reached over and grabbed her phone.

'Hello?' She said in a groggy voice.

'Agent Walker.' Graham's voice blasted through the phone.

Sarah shot up into a sitting position._ Crap_. She thought to herself. 'Sir.'

'I have a new mission for you. This one's going to be a long one, one you can thoroughly immerse yourself in.'

She kept silent as thoughts began whirling in her head. She would have jumped at such an opportunity in the past, but now, she felt like what she really needed was a break.

'Agent Walker?'

'I think I'm going to need a break,' she blurted out.

'Are you sure you don't want the mission? I fought hard to get you it.' Graham was confused. It didn't sound like the Sarah Walker he knew. She used to take on any mission, despite what was happening in her personal life.

'No. I really need to sort some things out.'

'If you're certain.' Graham wanted to confirm that it was what she really wanted.

Sarah sucked in a breath. 'Yes.'

'And I shall expect you back in – '

'A few days should suffice, sir.'

'Okay.' He paused. 'I heard about Carina. I'm sorry for your loss.'

'Thanks.' Sarah said softly.

'Take care.'

Hanging up and dropping her phone on the bed, she lay down once more. Her sudden movements from just now had given her headache. Sarah Walker had just denied a mission. The super spy extraordinaire, Graham's wild card enforcer. _What was happening?_

Graham was the one that had recruited her into the CIA when her dad was first arrested. He'd always been very supportive of her, treating her like a daughter, more so than her father had ever treated her. Besides her family – whom she wasn't very close to at all - he and Carina were the only people in the world she'd really allowed herself to somewhat trust in. But trust had always been a hard concept for her. She could never really fully confide in them, despite the fact that one was her best friend and the other was her so-called surrogate father. She'd always been very independent, and with independence came loneliness. Until Chuck came along.

She heard the shuffling of footsteps in the hallway and a soft knock on the door. 'Sarah?' He called softly.

She felt her heart flutter at the sound of his voice. _What is this inexplicable feeling?_ Sitting up slightly, she mustered up a voice to answer his call. 'Come in.'

Chuck slowly eased the door open with his elbow and came in holding a tray with a large bowl perched on top of it. 'Homemade chicken noodle soup, known as the curer of colds,' he stated proudly, giving her a large smile. Walking over, he set the tray down on her lap and propped some pillows up behind her back so she could have somewhere to lean comfortably.

Seeing his smile, she felt the corners of her lips move upwards as well. 'Thanks.'

He then walked over to the windows and pulled the curtains open to let some natural light into the room before returning to her side. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he placed a hand to her forehead. 'It's gone now.'

'Yeah,' she said softly, staring out the window at the clear blue sky.

He stared longingly at her hand that was rested on top of the blanket, wanting to grab it and intertwine his fingers with hers. But he decided against it and settled for a question instead. 'So, how are you holding up?'

Turning to look at him, her gaze meeting his, her smile faded as she bit her lip. 'I'm fine...you?'

'I'm fine too.'

Looking into each other's eyes, they both knew the other person was lying. But they sat in silence, neither person saying anything. This time though, the silence was not one of those awkward silences where you feel like you want to say something but you don't know what to say. It was rather one of those comfortable silences where an undeniable connection was being formed between the two.

The chiming of the grandfather clock resonated through the house and broke the silence. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, Chuck saw that it was already noon. 'Well, I've got to go get the their lunch ready.' He chuckled. 'They fell back asleep right after breakfast, but I should wake them soon or else we'll never get to bed tonight.'

Sarah laughed. 'Yeah. Last night was a long night.' She then let out a yawn, despite how much she'd slept the previous night.

'Well, you should get some more rest.' He stood up and made his way to the door. 'I took a couple of days off. I can take the babies for the day.'

'Okay.'

'Enjoy the soup.'

Just when he was about to exit the room, she felt an inexplicable need for his company. 'Chuck – '

'Yeah?' He questioned, turning around.

She opened her mouth to ask him to stay, but she couldn't. 'Nothing.'

'Okay. Just call me if you need anything.' Chuck said as he exited the room.

Closing the door, he leaned up against it and let a bout of tears wash over him once more.

* * *

Sarah needed some time alone to think, so she spent the better part of the afternoon in the room by herself. She also didn't want to get anyone else sick, so by staying in the room, she was kind of self-quarantining herself. It was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when she finally decided to venture into the house.

Following the laughter and the giggles, Sarah found Chuck in the living room with the twins. Leaning up against the doorframe of the living room, she smiled as she watched Chuck feed them. Chuck was sitting on the floor with the twins in front of him, holding a bowl of baby food in his hand.

'Almost done, Miss Sophie,' he said, scooping out the last remains of baby food from the bowl and placing it into her mouth. 'Good girl.'

Setting the bowl down, he picked up the other bowl – Tyler's bowl – and used the spoon to pick up a spoonful of baby food. 'Now how 'bout I zoom it in Tyler.' He moved the spoon in crazy circles in front of Tyler, making him laugh. 'Open wide...ready? ZOOOMMMM.' He zoomed the spoonful into his mouth and Tyler gladly swallowed it up.

Sarah couldn't help but chuckle at his antics. He really was good with kids.

Hearing her laugh, he turned and found her leaning against the doorframe of the living room. 'Hey.' He greeted her, giving her one of those warm, mega-watt Bartowski smiles.

'Hey.'

'You feeling better?'

'Yeah. Much better now.'

Walking into the room, she took a seat across from him on the carpeted floor and pulled Sophie into her lap, grabbing a tissue from the nearest tissue box and carefully wiping her mouth. Sophie settled right into her lap and began playing with her long locks. She watched as Chuck fed Tyler the last of his dinner.

'Uh – Chuck?' She piped up.

'Yeah?'

'Thanks for taking care of me. I mean, you really didn't have to. I'm used to having to do things on my own.'

'But I wanted to,' he said simply, looking up at her. Then, placing Tyler's bowl to one side, he grabbed a tissue and began cleaning Tyler up. 'Plus, that's what friends do for each other,' he added.

'Friends?'

'Yeah. Friends. You're my friend.' Wiping the last traces of food off a squirming Tyler, he threw the dirty tissues into the bin and let him go. 'You can go play now, Buddy.' Tyler immediately crawled over to the playset he'd been eyeing the whole time Chuck had been cleaning him.

Finally turning his focus back onto Sarah, he found her looking at him with a puzzled look on her face.

'What? Is it too fast for you? I mean, we can revert back to the whole best friend of the best friend thing.' Chuck rambled on. 'But I just thought after all that we've been through – '

'No, no. It's nothing like that.' She cut him off. 'It's just, I'd never really had many friends. We moved around a lot when I was little, and in my line of business, friends don't come easily.'

'What do you do?' Chuck asked out of curiosity.

Sarah wasn't prepared for this question. To buy herself some time, she looked down at Sophie, who'd fallen asleep in her arms. She slowly shifted her into her other arm, allowing herself more time to think. _What am I going to tell him?_ The CIA had sworn her to secrecy about her work as a field agent, but she didn't want to lie to him. Her heart screamed him, but her brain screamed the agency. She was torn at a crossroads.

Her brain eventually won out – the agency was her safety net and had been since she was a young girl. 'I uhh...I work for the...Smithsonian.' She lied. She remembered Covert Affairs, the only show she actually cared to follow because she felt she could relate to the main character at a lot of different levels. 'I travel a lot, collecting pieces from around the world for our exhibits.' However, what she failed to remember was that the Smithsonian was on the other side of the country.

Chuck picked up on it, but he decided to let it slip for the time being. 'Oh. That sounds really cool.'

Looking into his warm chocolate brown eyes, she felt really bad. But it was too late; she couldn't go back now. 'So, what do normal friends typically do on a Sunday night?' She asked, hoping changing the topic.

Chuck laughed. 'Hmm...a night in with pizza and a movie? And definitely some hot chocolate.'

Sarah smiled, forgetting about the whole job fiasco. 'Pizza sounds good'

'Do you want to share one for dinner? If we order now, it'll be here in about half an hour or so.'

'Sure.'

He whipped out his phone and pulled up the number of one of his favourite pizza parlours. 'Any preferences?'

'No.'

'Then I'll just get the special of the night.'

* * *

Chuck and Sarah sat next to each other on the couch in the living room with a large pizza on the coffee table in front of them. The pizza had come just after they'd managed to get the twins to bed. The special of the night was meat lover's – Italian sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers and olives.

Leaning forward, Sarah pulled a piece of pizza onto her plate. 'So, what do you do for a living, Chuck?' She asked, sitting back.

'Umm...I'm a tech analyst.' He always told people he was a tech analyst, which was true, but he didn't specify who he worked for. He did work for the Buymore - just in case anyone decided to look him up - but no one knew he worked for the CIA except Beckman, Graham and Bryce. They were the only three people. No one, not the rest of the CIA, nor his sister knew about his job at the agency. It was an extremely sensitive project. They were recruited in Stanford, and they both decided to take on the project because it paid well, but he no longer enjoyed it anymore. 'I'm actually thinking of asking my heads if I can work from home, so I can watch the twins when you're away...cause you mentioned your job requires you to travel a lot?'

'Yeah.' She said, picking out the olives on her pizza. He saw her doing so and made a mental note in his head. _She doesn't like olives._

'Can I tell you something, Chuck?' She said, looking at him.

'Of course,' he said, putting his pizza down and giving her his full attention.

'You're the only real friend I've had besides Carina.'

'Really? I mean, you're nice, smart and beautiful...who wouldn't want to be friends with you?'

* * *

After he tucked Sarah into bed, he sat down on his bed and started up his computer. However, before his computer could get to the log in screen, his screen went black and green letters began appearing.

**Special Agent Charles Bartowski**

'Oh boy.' He heart began racing as he frantically pressed every button there was on his computer in attempt to get it to disappear. But nothing worked; on the contrary, more words began appearing.

**WALKER, Sarah**

**Agent of the CIA, Field Ops.**

A picture of Sarah appeared on the screen beneath the words. Then after about a minute or so, everything on the screen began to fade away and a new set of words began appearing.

**Just thought you would like to know.**

**ORION.**

* * *

A/N: A CLIFFHANGER :) Does Chuck know who Orion is? Stay tuned!

Reviews would be greatly appreciated, and if there are any things you would like me to clear up or explain in greater detail, just let me know.

PS. If you don't know what Covert Affairs is, it's a TV show about a young CIA operative sent into the field to work for the DPD. Of course, it's not as good as Chuck (Chuck will ALWAYS be top for me), but it's a pretty good show and I find it really interesting...with all the spy stuff and such.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys. I'm BACK (: Sorry for the extreme delay...school started back up and I've since been bombarded with a constant stream of assignments, test, deadlines and such. Not fun. But I have been constantly thinking about this story. This chapter has been the hardest chapter to write thus far. There were a lot of things I needed to figure out before I could write this chapter so I could avoid any plot holes later on in the story. But, without any further ado, here is chapter 3 of Life As We Know It (: Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Chuck, and any mistakes are mine.

* * *

Chuck stared at his screen, stunned out of his mind. _This is not good. This is really not good. _After waiting for the words to finally disappear, he closed his computer and set it to one side. Slipping a pair of shoes on, he grabbed his phone and slipped out of the house.

Stepping out into the backyard, he eased the sliding door close behind him as quietly as he could so as to not wake Sarah or the twins. The moonlight shone brightly, lighting up the yard to a degree in which it wasn't too bright but was bright enough that he didn't need any other source of light. Scanning the vicinity, he made sure that there was no one around before dialing Beckman's number.

After a long wait, Beckman finally picked up. 'Agent Bartowski? Couldn't this have waited 'till the morning?' She said in a sleepy tone. It was only 10 o'clock Washington time, but Beckman had a knack of going to bed early whenever you needed her.

'General Beckman, I know it's really late, but this is very important – '

'This better be good,' she growled.

Chuck took a deep breath. 'General, someone just contacted me. They knew I worked for the agency - '

She immediately perked up. 'No one's supposed to know except Graham and I.'

'He - he or she took control of my computer and sent me an encrypted message.' Chuck began pacing back and forth on the patio.

'Did he reveal anything about his identity?'

'Orion.' He could feel Beckman tensing up over the phone, confirming his suspicions that there was something more sinister behind this whole fiasco. There was a long silence. 'General?'

'Chuck, Graham and I are going to fly out to LA tonight. We can't afford to discuss this over the phone anymore.'

'Yes ma'am.' There was another silence as both parties stopped to think. 'Wait General, just one more thing –' Chuck started.

He was interrupted by a man's voice in the background on Beckman's side calling for her to come back to bed. He stifled a laugh despite the dire situation he was in. Beckman cleared her throat embarrassedly. 'Sorry...that was just...what were you saying?'

'Umm – ' Chuck couldn't bring himself to ask whether Sarah was a spy or not. On the one hand, it could possibly simplify things on a professional level - although the CIA would probably still have him lie about what he was really doing – but on the other hand, it would complicate pretty much everything. After much consideration, he decided to let himself live another day in a happy bliss before he had to deal with the truth. 'Uhh...It's nothing.'

'Very well. That is all.'

* * *

**The Next Morning**

The sun shone brightly through the opened curtains and beat down upon Chuck's face. Opening his eyes, he had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the glare. He quickly realized he'd forgotten to close the curtains and change into his pajamas last night after returning from the call with Beckman. Turning over, he caught a glimpse of the clock. 10:00am. _Crap,_ he thought to himself. _I overslept._ He heard noises coming from the nursery through the baby monitor on the nightstand beside him.

Rolling out of bed, he pulled on a fresh set of clothes and brushed his teeth before heading down to the nursery. He found Sarah sitting on the floor amongst a mess of toys, playing with Sophie and Tyler. Sophie crawled over to Sarah and handed her a toy. Sarah took it from her, and pulled her into her arms.

'Can you say Sarah?' Sarah asked the little girl.

'Sawah,' Sophie babbled.

'That's right,' Sarah said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Tyler, jealous of the attention his sister was getting, dropped the toy train he was playing with and settled himself in Sarah's lap as well. 'Tyler, can you say my name?'

Instead of saying Sarah's name, Tyler said, 'You pwetty.' He reached out for a loose strand of her hair and began playing with it.

'Aww. Thank you, Tyler.' Sarah cooed.

Standing in the doorway, he couldn't help but smile at how cute the scene was. As he gazed at her, he felt his heart beat a little faster at how stunningly beautiful she looked. She was still clad in her pajamas with her blonde trestles pulled up into a messy bun and a face free of make up.

'Hey,' she said, her face lighting up at the sight of him. The sound of her voice broke his trance.

'Hi,' he replied. Tyler released the strand of hair he was playing with began squirming in Sarah's arms. He clearly wanted to be released so he could crawl over to Chuck.

'How did you sleep?' She asked, releasing Tyler from her grasp. Tyler crawled over to where Chuck was standing, and looked up at him longingly, wanting to be picked up.

'Umm...good,' Chuck said, whilst leaning down to scoop Tyler into his arms. 'Hi little man. How are you doing today?'

Tyler giggled. 'You pwetty.'

Chuck ruffled the little boy's hair and let out a chuckle. 'I'm a boy. Boys aren't pretty. They're handsome.'

Tyler shook his head. 'No. You pwetty.'

* * *

Sarah loaded the dishwasher whilst Chuck put the twins down for their afternoon nap. They'd had a really fun morning lazing around in the nursery. She never thought she would think this, but she had to admit she quite enjoyed this kind of lifestyle. For once, she felt like she had a family.

The sound of the doorbell ringing disrupted her thoughts. _Ding Dong._

'I'll get it!' Sarah shouted to Chuck upstairs. Wiping the sink down, she dropped the cloth down on the counter and made her way towards the front door of the house. Without thinking, she placed her hand on the doorknob and swung the door open. It was only after she'd done so that she realized what she'd done wrong. She mentally gave herself a slap on the head. _What kind of spy are you, Sarah?_

Coming back to reality, she found Graham and Beckman standing on the porch before her. 'Director Graham, General Beckman,' she addressed politely. Lowering her voice, she whispered, 'What are you doing here?' Turning back to look up the stairs, she hoped Chuck wouldn't come down.

'Can we come in?' Graham asked.

'Sir – ' Sarah started, but it was already too late. Graham and Beckman had already stepped around her and into the house. Sarah sighed as she closed the door. She knew there was no way she could get her superiors to leave. Hearing the pattering of footsteps from the stairs, she braced herself for what was to come. _What would she tell him? How would she introduce them?_

She felt herself cringing as he rounded down the corner and came down the last flight of stairs. However, he didn't seem surprised to see two strangers in the house at all. 'General Beckman, Director Graham,' he greeted.

'Agent Bartowski,' Beckman replied.

Sarah's eyes widened. _Agent Bartowski?_ Closing the door, she took a step towards him. 'You work for the agency too?' She whispered.

Chuck nodded solemnly. Hurt washed over her face. 'What – you told me you were a tech analyst.'

'I am. I'm a tech analyst for the agency,' he said calmly.

'What, and you managed to omit the fact that you work for the agency?' A hint of anger was present in her voice.

'To be fair, you didn't ask.' Leaning in closer to her, he lowered his raised his voice slightly. 'Wh-what? I'm not the only one that lied. From your reaction, I'm assuming you're an agent as well.'

Sarah was so caught up in her own thoughts she completely tuned out what Chuck had just said. 'I thought I could trust you.' Slipping on her façade, she took another step towards him and looked him straight in the eye. 'Who are you? What do you want from me?'

'I'm here for Sophie and Tyler.'

'Really,' she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She didn't know why she was acting like this. She could hear the element of truthfulness in his voice, and she knew he was telling the truth, but her spy instincts were telling her to push him out. She adverted her glance to the floor just as he grabbed her hand.

'Sarah. Can't you believe that there are people who are genuinely nice in our world, people who do things without any other ulterior motive?' He paused as he observed her face, but all he could see was a mask. Before he could continue, a loud wail echoed through the house. Sarah extracted her hand from Chuck's grasp and ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. 'I'll get it.' She turned and walked up the stairs briskly and made her way to the nursery.

Chuck turned to look at Beckman and Graham, whom both had slightly amused looks on their faces.

* * *

'Sit.' Beckman commanded whilst pulling the curtains of the living room closed.

Chuck and Sarah took a seat on opposite sides of the same couch. Sarah leaned her elbow against the armrest of the couch and rested her head on the palm of her hand, staring at a spot on the wall across the room.

'We have come here today to discuss your new living and occupational arrangements. We have become aware that the two of you are currently residing together in this house as a result of Bryce and Carina Larkin's deaths.'

Chuck snuck a glance at Sarah. 'General, permission to tell Sarah about the project?'

'In a moment,' Beckman replied before promptly proceeding with her own agenda. 'Agent Bartowski, we will relocate your base to this house for your ease. Luckily, Bryce already has a home office installed in this house. You are given permission to take any equipment you see fit for your new office from the current base. Your cover job at the Buymore will no longer be needed.' Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, she turned to address Sarah. 'Agent Walker, your new assignment will be to eliminate any potential threats that come Agent Bartowski's way.'

Sarah had her eyes trained onto the spot on the wall. She clearly wasn't giving Beckman her full attention. 'Agent Walker,' Beckman said sternly.

'I'm sorry,' Sarah said, standing up. 'I need some air.' She rushed out of the living room and started heading towards the front door.

'Agent Walker.' Beckman commanded once more, but Graham held her back. 'Let her be for a while.'

Chuck got up and chased after Sarah. 'Sarah, wait,' he called. She had her hand on the doorknob of the front door when he caught up with her. Taking her hand off the doorknob momentarily, she turned to face him.

'Where are you going?' He asked.

'It's none of your business,' she replied, directing her glance away from him.

'Sarah – ,' he began in a concerned tone whilst taking a step towards her.

'Just leave me alone, okay? I'm used to being alone.' Opening the front door, she stepped out and slammed it shut behind her.

* * *

Sarah hailed a cab back to her apartment. Changing into a pair of sweats and a sports bra, she decided to go for a run. Running was her form her release – her way of distressing and relaxation. As she began her normal route in the park behind her apartment's complex, all she could hear the sound of her sneakers beating rhythmically against the pavement. The events of the past few days coursed through her mind.

To be honest, she didn't know what she felt. It was all a mix of emotions all melded together she didn't know where one ended and where the next began.

She felt scared. Scared of vast amount of responsibility that she'd suddenly been thrust with without any prior warning whatsoever. There were two little lives that relied on her now, and she couldn't help but feel incompetent.

She felt sad. Sad that she'd just lost her best friend, and sad for Tyler and Sophie as well, who would never get to know their parents. She knew first hand how growing up parentless felt – her father was arrested when she was 6, and her mom took off shortly afterwards. She was recruited into the CIA at a tender age of 8. She hoped that through her training, she would be able to find her parents, but she learnt early on that it was one meaningless endeavour after another.

She felt disappointed. Disappointed because he lied to her about his job. Well technically, he didn't lie; he merely withheld some information. But nevertheless, he was a spy, and nothing could change that fact. What could she expect? Carina was an agent. Bryce was an agent. She should have known better. But there was a part of her that wished he wasn't in the spy world because the spy world corrupts you and changes you. He seems simple and genuine, but as any spy would tell you, agents aren't simple people.

And most of all, she felt hope. Hopeful of the possibility that the spy world hadn't changed him, and he was truly the guy he seemed to be. She couldn't deny that her heart beat a little faster she was around him and that her smile grew every bit wider whenever she saw that signature grin of his. He made her feel comfortable...safe. In these few short days, he'd changed her. This small glimpse into a 'normal' life left her heart yearning for more. She told him she was used to being alone, but did she really feel that way? Was it just her way of escaping from all her troubles so she could box them all up into a 'never to be dealt with' box? She did it when her dad was arrested and her mom left her and throughout her whole career as a spy thus far...

* * *

After Graham and Beckman finished explaining the logistics of his new home office and how he was to continue with his assignment, Chuck saw the to the door before plopping down on the couch. He was exhausted from all the thinking that he'd done recently and from a lack of sleep. Just when he was about to doze off, he heard rustling sounds coming from the baby monitor. Rustling sounds usually indicated that naptime was over and that the twins were all recharged ready for another couple of hours of playtime.

He let out a small inward sigh. Taking care of two kids full time was exhausting, especially since he'd just been thrust with the responsibility without any prior notice. It was scary to think their lives essentially relied on him and Sarah and their actions. It was a good thing he'd had practice as a teenager – babysitting their neighbour's children with Ellie in their free time to earn money after their parents left them to survive on their own. But however exhausting as it was, there was an immense amount of love that came with it also. And that was what he loved about kids.

Hoisting himself off the couch and up the stairs to the nursery, he found Sophie standing in her cot with her two little hands grasping tightly onto the railing. Seeing Chuck walk into the room, Sophie held out her hands.

Chuck smiled as he walked over to her cot and picked her up. 'Hi Ms Sophie.' He threw her up in the air and caught her in his arms, making her giggle. 'Did you have a good nap?'

'Yes,' Sophie said in her cute little baby voice.

Smothering her in kisses before setting her down on the changing table to be changed, he did his usual routine. Pull off the clothes, pull of the diaper, wipe, powder, put on a fresh diaper and pull the clothes back on.

Picking her up, he walked over to Tyler's crib. 'Let's go see if your brother is awake.'

'Bubba.' Sophie babbled.

'Yes, your brother,' Chuck said through smiles, whilst brushing a few baby hairs off her face. He placed her carefully on the ground to play before reaching into Tyler's cot. 'Hey buddy, it's time to wake up,' he said in a soft voice.

As he picked Tyler up, he found that he was extremely warm. Tyler opened his eyes slightly before closing them again and burying his head on Chuck's shoulder. 'Are we not feeling well?'

* * *

Sarah took a quick shower and grabbed some stuff from her apartment before heading back to the house in her beloved Porshe. It'd been sitting idly in the carpark the past few days and she missed it. As she let herself into the house, she found it abnormally quiet. 'Chuck? Sophie? Tyler?' She set her bags down in the hallway before searching the house for any signs of them.

_Why would Chuck leave the house and not tell me?_ She thought to herself. _Wait...my phone_. Pulling out her phone from the depths of her purse, she found that she had 10 voicemails.

'Hey Sarah, it's me, Chuck. Tyler is burning up pretty bad. I'm on my way to the Westside hospital now. Call me.'

Grabbing her purse, she rushed out the door.

'Hey Sarah, it's me again. We've reached the hospital and the doctors are evaluating him now. Call me.'

'Sarah, why aren't you answering my calls? Please don't be mad at me...I was going to explain everything but you rushed off this afternoon...call me.'

As she waited for all the messages to finish playing, she pressed the 'return call' button. However, just as it was about to dial, her phone suddenly shut off. _Crap. The battery's out._ Throwing her phone onto the passenger seat, she gripped the wheel with both hands and floored the dashboard.

When she reached the hospital, she lucked out and found a parking spot right by the entrance of the ER. Shutting off the ignition, she ran into the ER in search of Chuck.

As she sped walked down the hallway, she saw Chuck sitting in the hallway on a bench with Sophie on his lap. It was at that moment that he turned and looked down the corridor in her direction. Setting Sophie down on the bench, he stood up. However, instead of acknowledging her presence, he wrapped his arms around the brunette woman that had just approached him, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She felt her heart drop in disappointment. _He saw her, not me._

Coming to a stop a few steps away from them, she could hear the woman whispering words of comfort to him. _What, is she his girlfriend? _She thought to herself. _He never mentioned anything about her. _

'Sawah,' Sophie said from her spot on the bench, giving her away. Removing his head from her shoulder, he turned and saw her standing in front of him.

'Sarah,' he breathed, letting go of the brunette and turning to face her completely. He took a step towards her. 'Hey. You got my messages.'

'Yeah,' Sarah said, trying to avoid eye contact with him. She fiddled with her car keys in her hand. 'Sorry I didn't answer your calls. I was running – '

'Sawah,' Sophie repeated again, holding out her arms to be picked up. Stuffing her keys into the pocket of her jeans, she leaned over and picked Sophie up off the bench. She adjusted Sophie in her arms as she continued. 'Yeah...and when I got your messages, I was in a rush to get here and my phone ran out of battery - '

'Sarah,' Chuck said softly.

'I feel like I'm – '

'Sarah.' Chuck repeated, a little louder than last time. Sarah's eyes snapped up from the floor and made eye contact with him. 'Yeah?'

'It's okay.' He gave her a small smile.

'Okay.' She said softly. 'How's Tyler?' She asked as she began fiddling with Sophie's top as an excuse not to have to look at him.

'The doctors say they're going to need an hour to do a thorough evaluation,' he answered. 'They want to make sure it's nothing more than the seasonal flu.'

She nodded in understanding but didn't say any more. The trio stood awkwardly for a minute or so before the brunette broke the silence. 'So...Chuck? Are you going to introduce me?' She asked.

'Uhh...yeah,' he said, stammering. 'Umm...Ellie, this is Sarah, my friend. Sarah, this is my sister, Ellie.'

Sarah could feel her insides loosen up a little. _She's just his sister._ Ellie stuck out a hand for her to shake, and Sarah took it with her free hand. 'Nice to meet you.' Ellie said warmly.

Sarah smiled. 'Nice to meet you too.'

After Sarah let go of Ellie's hand, there was another awkward silence. Chuck and Sarah snuck glances at each other but refused to say anything aloud. Ellie looked back and forth between the two of them and immediately knew there was something going on between them. 'Here,' She said, breaking the silence once more. 'I'll take Sophie for a little walk. Looks like you two have something to sort out.'

Leaning over, she held out her arms for Sophie. 'You wanna come with me for a while Sophie?' Sophie shook her head and tightened her grip on Sarah. 'I'll get you some ice cream on the way,' Ellie offered.

At the mention of ice cream, Sophie immediately became very willing to follow Ellie and allowed herself to be taken from Sarah's arms. 'Let's go,' Ellie said, turning to walk away. 'Say bye-bye.'

'Bye-bye,' Sophie said, waving.

'Bye Sophie.' Chuck said, waving back. 'Thanks sis,' he called after his sister.

When he turned back, he found that Sarah had slumped down on the bench. Sitting down beside her, he turned his head sideways to face her. 'Look, I'm really sorry about what happened this afternoon.'

'I know.' She said quietly. 'I could have reacted better as well.' She paused and turned to look at him. 'I'm sorry I lied.'

'Me too,' he said, giving her a smile. 'You know, since we both weren't all that truthful with each other, how 'bout we call it a truce?'

'Okay,' she said, the beginnings of a smile forming on her face.

'So friends?' He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

'Yeah. Friends,' she said, taking his hand.

After a rather long shake, neither person wanted to pull away. So instead of letting go, Chuck laced his fingers in with hers. She looked down and fixed her glance on their intertwined hands.

'Sarah – ' He started gently. 'I know that as a field agent, you probably weren't trained this way, but letting someone in and having someone help you doesn't mean you fail. It just means you have someone to fall back on, to help you in times of need.'

'My whole life, I was always taught to get by on my own; to keep everything to myself, and never trust anyone. Then came Carina - she was more of a sister than a best friend to me. Ironically, she was the one that taught me to open up...she became the first and only person I'd call about anything and everything.' She felt her eyes well up. She mentally scolded herself; she hated how unnecessarily emotional she was these days. But then and again, she didn't really care anymore. So much has changed in the past couple of days, she didn't even know who she was. Looking up to meet his warm gaze, she felt compelled to continue. 'With her gone, I feel like I'm back to step one now...this is really, really hard and I don't know what I'm doing.'

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. 'You're doing great, Sarah. You really are.' He paused. 'I know the past couple of days have been a whirlwind and that there will be many more obstacles to come, but we're in this together. Just know that I'm here for you Sarah. I'll always be here for you.'

'I trust you,' she said simply, but sincerely.

* * *

Tyler's condition was more serious than the doctors had expected it to be. He had a mild urinary tract infection, which was believed to be the cause of the spike in his temperature. Although the infection had already subsided, the doctors wanted to keep him for the night just to be safe.

Chuck had just left Tyler's room to check on Sophie - who was still with Ellie - and to get them some dinner. Sarah stayed behind with Tyler. Taking a seat next to his crib, she gently placed a hand on his forehead. 'You gave us quite the scare there,' she whispered. She ran her fingers through his soft blonde hair. She'd always wondered where he and Sophie had gotten their blonde hair from. Carina had ginger coloured hair, whilst Bryce had brown. _If ginger and brown makes blonde, then what would blonde and brown make?_ She could feel a smile growing on her face before she froze. _Wait, WHAT? _She could feel her cheeks reddening of embarrassment at the forbidden thought.

The sound of footsteps approaching shook her from her thoughts. 'Hey, dinner's here,' Chuck whispered softly, placing a pizza box down on the table in the corner of the room before walking over to where she was. 'Sophie's sleeping in my sister's office...how's he doing?' He asked.

'He just fell asleep,' she replied, removing her hand from Tyler's head and turning to face him, only to be met with a bouquet of flowers. 'These are for you.' He offered.

Slowly taking the bouquet in her hands, she asked,' What are these for?'

He shrugged. 'Nothing. Just 'cause I felt like it.'

'Thanks,' she said sincerely. She gave the flowers a little sniff. 'Gardenias. They're my favourite.'

Chuck smiled. _Yes,_ he thought to himself. 'Come on. Let's eat.' He motioned for her to follow him over to the couch in the corner of the room. Setting the flowers down next to her handbag on one of the bedside tables, she followed him over and took a seat on the couch.

'Meat lover's pizza, sans olives. Is that okay with you?' Chuck said, handing a plate to her.

'Yup.' _He must have seen me pick out the olives the other night._ 'You know, you don't have to pick the kind without olives.'

'Yeah, but then you would have to go through the trouble of removing all the olives from every slice you eat.'

* * *

A/N: Don't forget to drop me a review on the way out (:

I'll try not to leave you guys hanging in suspense for so long this time around...:P My worked load has lessened slightly in recent weeks, so I've been trying to dedicate more time to writing. The next chapter is already in the workings, and as is the next chapter of 'Chuck vs the Dads'.

Stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So...I know this took longer than expected, but here is the next chapter of Life As We Know It (: Thanks for the immense positive response :P I really appreciate your support, and I've enjoyed reading every one of your reviews (:**  
**

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, and any mistakes are mine.

* * *

**ONE WEEK LATER**

'...and they all lived happily ever after.' Chuck closed the storybook and placed it gently on the floor, taking care not to make any sudden movements so as to not wake Sophie, who'd fallen asleep in his lap whilst he was telling the story. Looking to his left, he found Tyler staring at him with a large smile on his face. Smiling in return, he reached out a hand to ruffle his hair. 'Did you like the story?'

Tyler nodded from his spot on the floor next to Chuck before letting out a large yawn.

Chuck chuckled. 'Come on, it's night-night time.' He slowly hoisted himself off the floor, shifting Sophie to his right arm so he scoop Tyler up into his arms as well. However, Tyler had a different plan. Picking up another storybook off the ground, he held it up to Chuck. 'More.'

Chuck gave Tyler's hair another ruffle. 'Tomorrow, buddy.' Taking the book from Tyler's hands, he set it on the dresser and picked Tyler up. 'Let's get your pajamas on.'

Juggling the twins in his arms, he walked over to the changing table. He carefully lay Sophie down on one side of the changing table before setting Tyler down next to her.

Tyler had a pout plastered on his face - he looked like he was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Working as fast as he could, he stripped Tyler's clothes off and blew a little raspberry on his stomach. This put a smile on Tyler's face. He did it again, this time making Tyler giggle. 'There ya go. All better.' Grabbing an onesie out of the dresser, he dressed Tyler and gave him a kiss before picking him up and placing him in his crib.

After doing so, he turned his attention to Sophie. Looking down at her little calm serene face, he smiled. It was their innocent little faces that kept him going amidst all the chaos in his life. Undressing her, he checked her diaper. It was still clean. Pulling another onsie out of the top drawer of the dresser, he dressed her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.

All the jostling woke her up as she began to stir in his arms. 'Dada,' she mumbled softly.

'I'm not your dada.' Stroked her cheek gently. 'I'm Chuck.'

'Uck,' she repeated after him, not being able to pronounce the '_ch-_' sound. 'Uck.'

* * *

'Yes sir. Bye.' Ending the call, she dropped the iPhone onto her lap and sighed. _A mission to London_. She should be excited. The old Sarah Walker would have been elated at the mere mention of a mission, but since the _incident_, she found that her priorities had changed.

All of a sudden, she felt the couch sink down a little. 'Hey,' Chuck said, plopping down next to her. 'They both just fell asleep. You should have seen Sophie. She was trying to say my name, but all she could get out was Uck.' He chuckled. 'You're Aunt Sawah and I'm Uncle Uck.'

Sarah let out a small laugh. 'She's so cute,' she said softly.

'And Tyler was hilarious at story time,' he continued. 'You should have seen the faces he was making.'

She chuckled. 'I can imagine.'

Chuck stopped talking and turned to look at her. Despite her little laugh, he could hear an underlying tone of despondence in her voice. Studying her face carefully, he knew there was something pressing on her mind. 'Hey,' he started. 'Is something wrong?'

'I'm just sad I missed story time,' she lied. It technically wasn't completely a lie, because she was sad she missed story time, but it wasn't what was on her mind.

But regardless of whether it was a lie or not, Chuck knew there was something else behind her current behaviour. 'Sarah – '

Sarah knew she was busted. Despite having only truly met her a couple of weeks ago, he could already read her like an open book. 'I – uh,' she hesitated, '- I have a mission.' She looked up into his eyes before adverting her glance back to her hands.

He nodded in understanding. 'And you feel...' he prompted.

He watched as her shoulders slumped down a little as she let out a sigh. 'I don't know.'

'If you're worried about leaving Sophie and Tyler with me, I can handle it,' he offered.

She looked up and made eye contact with him once more, the corners of her lips tugging up slightly. 'I know. You're great with them.' Pausing, she tucked her feet up onto the couch beneath her. 'It's just - I don't – you know...' She struggled with her words.

Seeing her struggle, Chuck decided to give her some space to think. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a light squeeze. 'How 'bout I make some hot chocolate for us both, and we can talk this out.'

* * *

Hot chocolate was the perfect drink for the current season. The temperature had already started to drop, and although it wasn't so cold that it chilled you to your bones per se, it was cold enough for a nice, warm, hearty drink. Grabbing the two steaming mugs of hot chocolate off the kitchen counter, he made his way to the living room and took a seat on the couch next to her once more. 'Here,' he offered, handing her the cup. 'Careful, it's hot.'

'Thanks.' Wrapping her hands around the mug, she brought it to her lips and took a small sip. 'Mmmmm. I'd almost forgotten how good this stuff was.'

'How can you ever forget what hot chocolate tastes like?' Chuck asked incredulously. 'It's basically a dietary staple.'

Taking another sip, she looked into his warm chocolate-brown eyes. _You're the reason I don't want to go_. 'I haven't had it in years.'

'You're kidding.'

'Well, you know...I didn't exactly have a normal childhood...' Her voice trailed off.

Taking a sip of chocolatey goodness from his mug, Chuck nodded in understanding. 'So...um...do you want to tell me more about the mission?'

'Well, the CIA tracked down some information indicating that Orion is going to surface in London in about a week's time. Graham is sending me to track him down and bring him in.'

'Oh. Well I'm guessing he's pretty important since they're sending one of their top agents to track him down.' Chuck said.

'What are you saying?' Sarah questioned.

'I read your profile. You have a pretty amazing resume. Joined the CIA at the age of 8...graduated from the farm with top honours whilst earning a degree from Harvard...I never knew the CIA recruited at such a young age.' Chuck took another sip of his hot chocolate before placing it on the coffee table.

Sarah followed his lead and placed her mug on the coffee table before grabbing a cushion off the couch and hugging it to her body. 'Well, I wasn't exactly recruited for the CIA per se. I was recruited for an academy the CIA runs for children they see have the potential to become agents. Everything you learn there is geared towards your eventual training to become an agent.'

'Didn't you miss your parents?' Chuck asked.

'The thing is, children that were recruited to attend the academy were usually children who didn't have parents. I was one of those children. My dad was arrested when I was a young girl, and my mom ran of a little while later. She put me with my grandmother for a while; she was the only living relative I had at that time besides my parents. But then, she passed away and I was put into foster care.' She paused to catch her breath, her eyes focusing on a picture across the room.

Chuck followed her gaze and found her staring at a picture of her and Carina on the console table.

'I met Carina there. We quickly became best friends, and then we were both recruited into the agency's academy.' She hugged the pillow closer. 'I'm sorry if this is boring you.'

'No, keep going.' He stretched out an arm across the back of the couch.

'That's it. You probably know the rest since you've read my resume.' She picked up her mug and took a sip. 'You know, this is the first time I've ever shared my story with someone.' She wrapped both of her hands around the mug and lowered it from her lips.

Chuck gave her a wide grin. 'Well, I'm glad you shared.'

She smiled back at him. She loved how he always went out of his way to make her feel special. Snuggling into the couch, she prepared herself for her special story time, to make up for the one she'd missed. 'And now it's your turn to share.'

* * *

**TWO DAYS LATER**

**8:30am  
**

Chuck stood in the shower, letting the hot water run down his body.

_You set it again, my hearts in motion,_

_Every word feels like a shooting star,_

_I'm the edge of my emotions,_

_Watching the shadows burning in the dark._

He loved singing in the shower. It was a means of relaxation for him – being able to let go of all his cares in the world and express himself freely. Today was no exception. However, he didn't realize the significance of his song choice until he paid close attention to the words he was singing.

_And I'm in love,_

_And I'm terrified,_

_For the first time and the last time,_

_In my only life._

He'd never felt this way with anyone before. Thoughts began churning through his mind. Sure, he felt a strong attraction towards her, but was it too soon? Would it ruin the dynamic there was between them? And the biggest, if not most important question was, if he decided to take that step, would she want to be with him? _She is kind of a big fish and I'm just plain old me..._

* * *

Sarah woke to the sound of Chuck's voice emanating from the shower down the hall. He had an amazing voice – it was the kind you could listen to over and over again without ever getting sick of it. Closing her eyes once more, she back down into the mattress as she savoured his little impromptu concert.

_I only said it cause I mean it._

_I only said it cause it's true. _

_So don't you doubt what I've been dreaming,_

'_Cause it fills me up, holds me close, whenever I'm without you._

The emotion he put into the song sent shivers down her spine. _I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning,_ she thought to herself. The more she thought about it, the more she dreaded the looming mission on the horizon.

And what about the future? Tyler and Sophie had no other living relatives, which meant they were staying with them. Not that she minded; she loved the twins to death. But it was him. What would happen? He was stuck with her for the rest of his life. Was it a good thing? _He seems happy, but what if I'm holding him back from finding the woman of his dreams?_

She listened as his voice slowly drifted off and the sound of the shower slowly died down. She heard the bathroom door open, followed by the light padding of footsteps down the hallway. Rolling over, she curled up into a fetal position and sighed. _Why does this have to be so complicated?_

After a few more minutes in bed, she decided it was time to start the day. Hoisting herself off the bed, she paid the bathroom a visit before changing into a clean set of clothes.

Then, gathering her hair into a quick ponytail, she made her way down the nursery. Upon entering the nursery, she found Sophie and Tyler both standing in their cots with their hands grasped tightly around the top of the railings, waiting quietly but eagerly to be let out. They could both stand with support, but not on their own. As soon as Sophie saw her, she reached out her hands to be picked up.

'Good Morning, Miss Sophie,' Sarah said, picking her up and setting her down on the dressing table to be changed. 'Hi,' Sophie replied. 'Hi Sawah.'

Sarah stripped her pajamas off with one swift motion and changed her diaper. She'd become quite the expert at changing diapers after a couple weeks of intensive practice. Dressing her in a clean set of clothes, she gave her a kiss before setting her on the floor to play. She then picked Tyler up and repeated the same routine. Chuck was unusually late today – usually, he'd be in there with her changing diapers. After finishing with Tyler as well, she set him down on the floor as she cleaned up the changing area and placed the dirty diapers in a plastic bag, sealing it before tossing it into the trash.

Turning, she found Tyler standing up in the middle of the room, without any support whatsoever. 'Tyler! Good job!'

Sitting down on the floor, she reached out her arms and motioned for him to walk towards her. 'Chuck,' she called. 'Chuck! Come quick!'

Tyler stood still for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out how to take a step forwards, but instead of taking a step forwards, he sat back down and crawled over to Sarah. When he reached her, Sarah scooped him up into a big hug. 'Good job, buddy. You're almost there.'

At this moment, Chuck came rushing into the nursery. 'What's the matter?' he asked worriedly.

'Watch this,' Sarah said excitedly. 'Stay right there,' she told him. Releasing Tyler from her embrace, she placed him onto the carpeted floor in front of her. From there, Tyler pushed himself off the floor, into a standing position.

A large smile broke out on Chuck's face. 'Tyler! That's amazing.' Crouching down, he stretched out his arms – just as Sarah did – motioning for the little boy to walk towards him. This time, Tyler took a step forward before stumbling over. Luckily, Chuck was able to catch him with his outstretched arms.

'Toy.' Sarah turned to find Sophie crawling towards her, holding out a stuffed animal. 'Hi Sophie,' Sarah said, pulling Sophie into her lap. 'Look at your brother.'

'Bubba,' Sophie said, pointing to her brother.

Chuck pulled Tyler into a standing position and Tyler took a few steps forward, giggling along the way. However, after a few steps, Tyler sat back down and crawled the rest of the way over to Sarah. 'Good job,' she complimented, ruffling his hair.

Seeing her brother take his first steps, Sophie wanted to try it for herself. She began squirming in Sarah's arms, wanting to be released so she could have a go at what he was doing.

'Does Sophie want to try walking too?' Chuck cooed, moving so he was sitting directly across Sarah, about a meter away. They opened their legs, stretching them out to form a small square.

Holding onto Sophie's hands, Sarah helped her up into a standing position. Then, once she'd gained her balance, Sarah slowly began to let go. 'There ya go. You can do it.'

Sarah let go of Sophie, and she stood there for a while before sitting back down. 'Uh oh.' she babbled innocently, cracking both of the adults up. She smiled proudly as she reached out her hands for Sarah to help her up again.

Chuck and Sarah spent the next hour trying to teach the twins to walk. By the end of the hour, both Tyler and Sophie could walk a few steps, but then had to resort to crawling.

Crossing her legs, Sarah took in a deep breath. Her stomach hurt from laughter and hunger. She could feel her stomach grumbling ferociously. It was so loud even Chuck could hear it from his spot across from her.

He smiled. 'Someone's hungry.'

Pulling Tyler into her arms, she smiled sheepishly. 'Yeah.'

'Come on,' he said, slowly getting up off the floor. 'Let's get some breakfast.'

She loved lazy mornings.

* * *

**2:00pm**

Chuck sat in his newly installed home office, working on the schematics for the Intersect project. The kids were sleeping, and Sarah had gone out to run a couple of errands.

He was stuck. The interface was up and working, but there was still something missing. He'd finally managed to decode the schematics the CIA had given him and built the interface up accordingly, but it wasn't working. The information was there, but it wasn't able to analyse the information for patterns.

Sitting back in his chair, he took a sip of water and sighed. This was going nowhere. It looked like it would be a while before he could finally be finished with this project.

Suddenly, his computer screen went black and green letters began appearing. It was just like what had happened a week or so ago when Orion first contacted him. Leaning forward, he felt adrenaline beginning to course through his veins.

**Keyword: Cipher. **

**ORION.**

He frowned. He had no idea what this meant. As the words slowly disappeared, he noted the message down on his computer's dashboard.

Before he had any time to think, his phone went off. Grabbing his phone, he saw Ellie's face on the screen.

'Hi sis.'

'Hey Chuck. You have quite a bit of mail accumulating here. Do you want me to bring it over tomorrow?'

'Sure.' Leaning back, he dropped the pen he was holding onto the desk. 'Uhh...El?'

'Yeah?'

'Do you want to get some lunch together tomorrow? I feel like we haven't really been talking much lately...' His voice drifted off as he heard a cry from the nursery upstairs.

'Sure,' Ellie replied.

'Okay. I gotta go. Talk to you later.'

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING  
**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._ The incessant sound of her alarm ringing woke Sarah from her slumber. Bringing a hand to her forehead, she moaned in frustration. She was most definitely not a morning person.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning. It was still mostly dark outside, with a few stray rays of sunlight peeping up from the horizon, tinting it a slight shade of orange.

Today was the day of her mission. The day she'd been dreading the past week. After she prepped herself, she checked her bag to making sure she had everything she needed. _Passport. Check. Money. Check. Clothes. Check..._

After she was satisfied with her packing, she grabbed her duffle bag, turned the lights off and slowly trudged down the stairs. Placing her bag down at the bottom of the stairs, she walked towards the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. As she neared the kitchen, she could hear the clanging of pots and pans and a radio playing softly in the corner. Turning the corner, she found Chuck swaying and singing along to the music as he cooked.

Her steps slowed as she neared him. 'What are you doing up so early?' Sarah questioned.

He turned and found her standing behind him on the other side of the island table. 'Morning,' he greeted, awkwardly waving the spatula he was holding. 'I'm cooking.'

She chuckled at his awkward gesture. 'For what?'

'For you.' He motioned for her to take a seat at the island. 'Blueberry pancakes coming right up,' he said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of her.

'Thanks.' She'd learnt to stop questioning why he always went out of his way to do things for her because every time, his answer would be _'because I wanted to.'_

The pancakes were delicious. They reminded her of the ones her grandmother used to make – delicate, buttery, done to the perfect consistency. She savoured every last bite of it, knowing that her taste buds would probably not encounter anything as tasty as this until her return. She watched as Chuck bustled around the kitchen, cleaning up the mess he'd made.

Stuffing the last bite into her mouth, she got up and placed the plate and fork in the sink. Looking at the clock, she found that it was already almost 5:45. Her flight was due to leave at 8:00; she knew she needed to leave soon. 'I should start heading out soon,' she said.

'Wait.' Placing the last few ingredients back to their rightful places, he grabbed the bag of brownies he'd made earlier on off the kitchen countertop and handed it to her. 'Take these.'

Holding the brownies he'd just passed her in her hands, she gave him a puzzled look. 'What are these for?' she questioned.

'For just in case you get hungry. Or lonely.' He gave her a large grin. 'It'll remind you of home.'

Looking down at the bag of brownies in her hands, she laughed. She found it funny how innocent he was despite his involvement in the spy world. Before she could say anything, he handed her another object.

'Here. Take this as well. It's a phone I've set up on a secure line.' When she didn't take it, he walked over and, gently grabbing her free hand, placed it in her palm and used his other hand to wrap her fingers around it.

Hands still connected, she up into his eyes and said, 'You know I'm not allowed to contact you on the mission, right?' She paused and swallowed. 'It's too dangerous.'

'Yeah, I know,' he said. 'But just in case.'

* * *

Sarah sat on the plane and stared out the window. The plane had already been in the air for 3 hours – the lights in the cabin had been dimmed, and people went about minding their own business. She'd gotten lucky, as there was no one in the seat beside her. But the peace and quiet was not necessarily a good thing, as she struggled with the excess of time she had on her hands. All she could think about was Chuck, Sophie and Tyler. She left before they woke up. It was a good thing in a sense, because if they were awake, she'd have never been able to leave. _The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be able to go back,_ she reassured herself. But that didn't stop her from thinking about them. _I wonder what they're doing now?_

Feeling a pang of hunger strike, she reached into her bag and pulled out a brownie. Breaking off a corner, she placed it in her mouth and relished its sweet taste.

She could hear his voice resonating at the back of her mind. _It'll remind you of home_. She sighed. This was going to be one hard mission.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to drop me a review on the way out. (: Stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys (: Thanks for your continual support...it's awesome! I've really enjoyed reading all your reviews and PMs, and it's really given me the motivation to continue. I know that Sarah's recruitment age is bugging some of you; I guess I didn't really think through it properly when I was writing. :/ But, without further ado, here is the next chapter of Life As We Know It.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chuck.

* * *

**ONE DAY LATER**

**BURBANK, 12:00pm (UTC-7)  
**

A colourful blanket of autumn leaves adorned the ground of the large yard. Despite so, the trees were still ablaze with shades of auburn, red and gold. The sky was a light shade of baby blue, and the sun shone brightly, its rays providing warmth in the slightly chilly season. It was a beautiful autumn day.

A gust of wind blew by, sending a cascade of leaves showering in all directions. Sophie squealed with delight as she watched the leaves sway gently down to the ground. 'Weeeeee,' she cried happily, waving her little arms around in attempt to catch the stray leaves. She'd been bundled up in a cozy woolly jumper and a scarf, with tiny Ugg boots on her little feet. Finally managing to grasp onto a leaf, she waved it up in triumph. 'Uck,' she said, presenting the leaf to him. Taking the leaf from her hands, he offered her a piece of banana in return. Holding it strategically in front of her mouth so she couldn't refuse, she opened her mouth and reluctantly accepted it. 'Good job, Sophie,'

Ellie laughed. 'Uck?'

'Yeah. They can't pronounce the _ch _sound yet.' He chuckled. 'But it's fine. I think it's cute.'

Tyler loved the crunching sound of the leaves. He went stomping about on them in his boots with his newly acquired walking skills. _Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. _He delighted in the sound it made, giggling to himself as he toddled along.

'Tyler, come here,' Chuck called. Hearing Chuck's voice, Tyler turned and toddled over to Chuck. Picking up the last piece of banana left in the bowl, he placed it in front of Tyler's mouth. 'Open wide, buddy.' Tyler did as he was told, and Chuck popped the piece of banana into his mouth.

'All done,' Chuck said, setting the bowl down on the picnic blanket. He took a napkin and wiped both Tyler and Sophie's mouths, before wiping his own hands.

'Yummy,' Tyler said with a mouth still half full of banana.

It'd been a day since Sarah had left for London. It was noon, and Ellie was over at the house. They were having a big picnic feast – it was only the two of them, but Ellie made all his favourites to make up for the fact that she had to bail on their lunch date due to an emergency at the hospital.

Chuck sat back on the picnic blanket and picked up his plate of food. He'd spent the last 15 minutes feeding the twins. Now that they were finally finished, he could eat.

Ellie had already finished half of her food. She picked at the remainder of her sandwich as she watched her brother take a bite into his sandwich. 'You're good with them.'

'Thanks,' he said humbly.

'Where's Sarah?' She asked.

'She's...uhh...she's in London.' Chuck hesitated. He hated lying to his sister, but he really had no choice. 'She's on a business trip.' Thankfully, Ellie didn't enquire any further.

'So how's Captain Awesome?' Chuck said, changing the subject. He took another large bite out of his sandwich. 'By the way sis, these sandwiches are amazing.'

'Thanks.' Ellie smiled, happy for the compliment. 'Umm...well...Devon's good. We've both been a little busy at the hospital, but things are slowing down slightly now since the intern season is over.' Ellie stopped fiddling with her sandwich and set it down on her plate. 'So, Devon and I have been looking around, and we're thinking of selling the apartment and upsizing into a bigger house...you know, since we've decided to start trying for a baby now.'

Chuck nodded his head in approval. 'That's great – '

Before he could say anything more, Ellie interjected and continued talking.

'Trying for a baby is actually pretty tough. You have to get the whole timing right, and you actually have to think about when to do it and you know – '

Chuck choked on his food as his face scrunched up in disgust. 'Okay, sis. That's a little too much information.'

Ellie could see the discomfort on her brother's face and decided to keep taunting him on for fun. 'What?'

'Umm...' Chuck stuttered. 'Uhh...don't you think it's a little awkward...you know...' Unable to form a coherent sentence, he gestured with his arms, moving them back and forth as if he were trying to convey a message.

'You mean talking about sex with your sister?'

Chuck's face reddened with embarrassment. 'Yes,' he said sheepishly. He was such a little kid.

Ellie laughed and gave him a light bump on the shoulder. 'You're too funny.' She paused. 'So...what about you and Sarah?'

'Hmm?' He mumbled with a mouth full of food. 'What about me and Sarah?'

'You know...anything?' She asked hopefully.

Chuck adverted his glance to a tree in the distance. 'Nothing. We're just friends.' Turning back, he made eye contact with Ellie. 'That's it.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah.'

Ellie know her brother well enough to know that he didn't sound sure. She studied his face carefully; he looked a little pale and tired.

Just then, his phone began vibrating. 'Sorry. Phone.'

Pulling it out of his pocket, she watched as he glanced down and saw the caller ID. His face lit up ever so brightly, like a child's face would when receiving his presents at Christmas.

'Hey Sarah.'

_There is totally something going on between those two_. Ellie thought to herself with a smile.

* * *

**LONDON, 8:00pm (UTC+1)**

Sarah sat on the bed in her hotel room, staring at the phone in her hands. _Should she call?_ Calling would mean breaking the CIA's rule of not calling through a non-CIA authorized channel on a mission, but not calling would mean she'd miss them even more and not be able to focus on the mission. Orion had yet to make his appearance, and in the meantime, Sarah had nothing to do but to wait.

She bit her lip. _Oh whatever, _she said to herself, pressing the 'call' button and bringing the phone to her ear. _Ring. Ring. Ring. _On the fourth ring, he finally picked up. 'Hey Sarah,' she heard him say. The sound of his voice brought a smile to her face.

'Hi Chuck.'

'You called.'

'Yeah. I did.' She paused. 'You're sure this is a secure line, right?'

'Yes, don't worry,' Chuck said. 'So how's London?'

'It's okay,' she said, sighing. 'Just a lot of waiting around. How's life in California?'

'We're having a picnic in the yard,' Chuck said excitedly. 'Ellie came over with lots of good food, and Tyler and Sophie are having the time of their lives in the leaves.'

'That's great.' Sarah couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she wasn't there.

'Hold on a sec.'

'Okay,' she said, waiting patiently. Using her free hand, she began fiddling with the tassels on a pillow near her.

'Okay,' Chuck said, breaking the silence. 'Press the video button on your phone.'

Removing the phone from her ear, she did as she was told. Locating the video button on the screen of her phone, she pressed it, and Chuck showed up on her screen.

'Hi,' he said with a large grin on his face. 'Can you see me?'

'Yes.' She smiled back at him in return.

'Here's Ellie,' he said, tilting the phone over to the right and pointed it at his sister. 'Say Hi, El.'

'Hi Sarah,' she said, with a small wave.

'Hi,' Sarah responded.

'And here's Sophie and Tyler,' He said, tilting the phone down to show the twins, who were sitting in his lap.

Sarah's smile grew wider upon seeing the twins. 'Hi Sophie, Hi Tyler,' she said, chuckling. 'Oh Chuck, they look so cute in their fall outfits.'

'Yeah, they do.' Tyler and Sophie were both staring quietly at the image of Sarah on the phone. 'Who is it?' Chuck asked them.

'Sawah,' Sophie replied, looking up at him for confirmation.

'That's right, Soph. Go on, say hi,' Chuck encouraged.

'Hi,' Sophie said timidly.

'Hi,' Tyler said, copying his sister.

* * *

**BURBANK, 2:00pm (UTC-7)**

Chuck sat in his office, slowly nursing a cup of hot coffee. Ellie left about an hour ago, and the twins were taking a nap. He'd spent the better part of the last hour staring at his computer screen, looking through the Intersect schematics he had and trying to figure out how Orion's message fit into it.

'Cipher. Cipher. Cipher,' he repeated to himself. 'A code.'

He sighed. It seemed to be the missing piece, yet at the same time, it seemed a little random. 'What would a code be needed for? I've already coded everything there is possible to code. A code can't possibly link all the information together; the system is way more complex than that.'

He didn't know why he was focusing so much on this piece of information from Orion. He didn't even know who Orion was, so why did he feel so obliged to follow what he said? He let out a sigh. He knew he should have brought Orion's message up to Beckman and Graham. _The next conference,_ he promised himself.

Thoroughly baffled, he decided to take a break. Putting his work on the Intersect project to one side, he decided to start tackling the mail that had accumulated over the past couple of weeks. There were two piles – one was the pile Ellie brought over; the other was the pile from the mailbox outside the house.

Grabbing a trash bag, he began sifting through the mail. _Toss. Keep. Toss. Toss. Toss. _He stopped at an envelope addressed to Mr Charles Bartowski and Ms Sarah Walker. For a moment, he was confused, until he saw the Slatkin&Co Law Firm logo in the top left corner of the envelope. It was Bryce and Carina's will.

With shaky hands, he set the envelope down. He didn't want to read it, as reading it would make it seem so final. He'd also put of holding a funeral for them. A part of him was still trying to avoid the fact that they were both gone. Since it was addressed to the both of them, Chuck decided he would wait for Sarah to get back to read it.

Tearing his eyes away from the envelope, he proceeded with the task of sorting through the remaining mail.

* * *

**TWO DAYS LATER**

**LONDON, 5:00pm (UTC+1)  
**

Sarah had been in London for 3 days, and she'd barely made any progress with the mission. She was a little disappointed because she missed them. She wanted to get back to them as fast as possible, but Orion was taking his time. She was in the midst of writing a mission report on her hotel room when her computer froze. Blackness overtook her screen and green words began appearing.

**Meet me at the Pizza Parlour at Covent Garden in an hour. Reservation under Smith. Come alone.**

**- ORION.**

As her screen slowly returned to normal, she could feel her heart pounding hard with a combination of fear and excitement. _Finally. This is it. After this, the mission will be over._

Shutting off her computer, she placed it in the safe and began to get ready. She put on her bulletproof vest, a thigh holster for her trusty Smith Wesson and an ankle holster for her beloved knives. One could never be over prepared for a mission.

An hour later, she found herself sitting alone at the pizza parlour. She'd been surveying the area for unusual activity, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The hardest thing about the mission was that she didn't know what he looked like – the CIA did not have a single picture of him on their database. For all she knew, Orion could be a woman.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a waiter. 'Excuse me, ma'am. You've been sitting here for a while now. Would you like to order something?'

'Oh, yes. Sure. Umm, could I have a vegetarian pizza?'

'One vegetarian pizza, coming right up.'

10 minutes later, her food had arrived yet there was still no sign of Orion. Staring down at the pizza in front of her, she sighed. In the midst of all the thinking that was going on, she'd forgotten to check whether or not the pizza had olives on it or not. And unfortunately, it did. Perhaps it was simply due to the fact that she was so focused on the mission that she forgot to pay attention to what she was ordering; or perhaps, it was because she'd gotten so used to Chuck taking care of her every need in the past few weeks that she forgot. In fact, it was both, and as much as she'd hate to admit, she knew that the second reason had a much greater weighting than the first.

Just as she was about start the process of removing all the olives from her pizza, a passing waiter approached her table.

'Ma'am, is everything alright? I see that you haven't touched your food.'

'Uhh,' Sarah stammered. 'Yes. I'm fine.'

'Do you need anything?'

'I'm fine, thank you.'

Eying another table in need of service, the waiter excused himself and left. 'Enjoy.'

'Thanks,' she said quietly. Staring over at the empty seat across from her, she found that something was different. There was a small brown package sitting where envelope napkin used to be. Reaching over, she picked it up carefully and opened the envelope attached to the front of the package.

**Sneaky huh?**

**You may need this. **

**Don't come looking for me; you will never find me.**

**- ORION**

_Damn it. It was a decoy,_ she thought to herself. _Darn. This means more time here._

* * *

**BURBANK, 1:00pm (UTC-7)**

Chuck stood in front of the TV in his office, having a video conference with Beckman and Graham. 'General Beckman. Director Graham,' Chuck addressed.

'Agent Bartowski,' Graham said in return.

'General, Director, I have something important to – '

Beckman cut him off before he could get to his main point. 'Hold on a moment. We are trying to get a hold on Agent Walker.'

Suddenly, Sarah's face appeared on the screen next to Beckman and Graham's faces. 'Agent Walker, can you hear us?' Graham asked.

'Yes,' Sarah replied. Upon seeing Chuck, she flashed him a small smile, and he gave her a wink in return.

'Agents. Focus,' Beckman ordered. Sarah's smile immediately disappeared as she schooled her facial expressions. 'Agent Walker. Please give us an update about your progress.'

'I have received a package from Orion containing a device named the cipher.'

Chuck's eyes widened. 'The cipher,' he muttered under his breath.

'Agent Bartowski, is there something you would like to tell us?' Beckman questioned.

'General – ' he started. He could feel his hands begin to get clammy in fear of how his superiors would react to what he was about to tell them. 'Orion has contacted me again. His very words were: Keyword, Cipher.'

Chuck could see Graham and Beckman both tensing up. 'Agent Walker, once you have completed your mission, deliver the package to Langley. Whatever is in it must be destroyed.'

'But why?' Chuck asked.

'Because it's dangerous.' Beckman stated. 'Agents, Orion was the developer of the original Intersect. When it was completed, he ran away with it. It gave him access to much of the CIA's information, and it set the CIA back many years. He is a dangerous man and cannot be trusted.'

* * *

**BURBANK, 5:00pm (UTC-7)**

Chuck walked into the courtyard of Ellie and Devon's apartment carrying a twin in each arm with a diaper bag slung over his shoulder. As he made his way towards the door of the apartment, he could hear a set of footsteps behind him. Swiveling around, he found that Devon was walking behind him, looking at something on his phone.

'Hi Devon,' he greeted.

Devon tore his eyes away from the screen of his phone and saw Chuck standing in front of him. 'Hey Chuckster! I haven't seen you in a while bro.'

'Yeah. I've been a little busy. Did Ellie tell you about – '

'She did.' Devon reached out an arm and patted Chuck's shoulder. 'I'm really sorry,' he said empathically.

'Thanks,' Chuck said quietly. The stood in silence for a moment until Chuck thought to introduce the twins to Devon. 'Devon, meet Tyler and Sophie.'

Leaning down, he quietly prompted the twins. 'Can you say hi to Uncle Devon?'

'Hi,' Tyler said timidly, giving him a small shy wave. Sophie, on the other hand, buried her head in the nook of Chuck's neck. She'd always been the shyer of the two when it came to meeting strangers.

* * *

Chuck was in the kitchen scooping out ice cream for everyone. Dinner was over, and everyone else was gathered around in the living room for a movie. The twins had warmed up to Devon and were now playing happily with him. He was almost done scooping all the ice cream out when he heard Morgan walk up behind him. He knew it was Morgan because Morgan always shuffled his feet in a certain way when he walked.

'Hi Morgan,' Chuck said.

'Damn it,' Morgan said in exasperation. 'How come I can never sneak up on you?'

Chuck laughed. 'Because I'm awesome like that.' He paused. 'So, what's up?'

'Life's good.' Turning to look at Chuck, he asked, 'How about you? How are you holding up?'

'Okay, I guess.' Not wanting to dwell on the current subject matter, he changed the topic. 'So how's the Buymore been lately?'

'It's not the same without you, but you know, the same old, same old. Lester tells Jeff to do something stupid, Jeff does it, gets in trouble, and the cycle repeats all over again.'

Chuck laughed. Just then, Tyler came crawling into the kitchen. Setting the ice cream scoop in his hand down, he picked Tyler up off the floor and bounced him in his arms. 'Hi buddy. Are you having fun?'

Tyler giggled with happiness. 'Seems like you are,' Chuck said. Setting him down on the counter, he quickly returned the carton of ice cream to the freezer and put the ice cream scoop in the sink. 'Grab a bowl,' he told Morgan.

'Ice cweam,' Tyler said, pointing to the bowls of ice cream on the counter waiting to be taken. Grabbing the nearest bowl, Chuck took a small spoonful of ice cream and fed it to him.

Tyler's face lit up at the taste it. 'You like it, don't you?'

Devon came trailing in with Sophie in his arms. 'Sorry bro. I kinda lost track of him,' he said, motioning to Tyler on the counter.

'It's okay,' Chuck replied.

Sophie's eyes lit up upon seeing the ice cream; Chuck could tell she desperately wanted some. Taking another small spoonful, he held it in front of her mouth. 'What's this?'

'Ice cweam.'

'That's right,' he said, moving the spoon closer to her mouth. 'Open up.' Sophie did as she was told, and swallowed the ice cream down quickly.

'Is it good?' he asked.

Sophie nodded. 'Yummy.'

* * *

**BURBANK, 1:00am (UTC-7)**

The rain beat relentlessly against the house as a loud crackle of lightening echoed through the room as the sky outside lit up in a brilliant white colour. Staring out the window with Sophie cradled against his chest, all he could hear was the rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain hitting against his bedroom window.

As a new streak of lightening broke out in the sky, Sophie shifted and burrowed her head deeper onto Chuck's chest. The thunderstorm scared her; it'd woken her up and now she couldn't sleep.

Turning from the window, Chuck made his way back over to the bed. Tyler was asleep on one side of the bed; the thunderstorm had woken him up as well, but Chuck was able to coax him back to sleep with the promise that he could sleep next to him.

Taking a seat on the bed, he carefully manuvered himself with Sophie in his arms so that he was sitting with his back leaning against headboard of the bed and began humming a lullaby his mother had once sung to him many years ago.

_Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight_

_With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed_

_Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed_

_Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed_

Just as he was about to enter the second verse, his phone began vibrating on the nightstand. Grabbing the phone his right hand, he took a glance at the ID caller screen before answering it. It was a video call from Sarah.

'Hey,' he whispered, adjusting the position of his phone so she could see him.

'Hi.'

'We're experiencing quite a bad thunderstorm here.'

'Really?'

'Yeah,' he said, tilting the phone down to include Sophie in the frame. 'Sophie's scared, aren't you, sweetie?' Sophie lifted her head slightly of Chuck's chest and gave a little nod. 'And I just managed to get Tyler to fall back asleep.' As Sophie laid her head back on Chuck's chest, he used his free hand to stroke her hair gently.

Sarah smiled. You could on Chuck to know exactly how to deal with each and every situation.

'So how's the mission?'

Sarah let out a sigh. 'It's a bust. Graham and Beckman are a little mad, but you know, there's nothing I can do about it.'

'Does that mean you're coming back soon?' Chuck asked hopefully.

'Tomorrow. My flight arrives at 5 in the afternoon.'

'Do you want us to come pick you up from the airport?' he asked.

'No, it's fine. I can take a taxi. You have a conference call with Beckman and Graham at 5 tomorrow,' she said.

'I can always ask to postpone it, since I've made virtually zero progress this week,' he suggested.

'I wouldn't do that. They're not in such a good mood...'

* * *

**BURBANK, 5:30pm**

Sarah made her way through the baggage claim with her duffle bag slung over one shoulder. The airport was bustling with people; it was so crowded it made getting from one side of the hall to the other a challenge. _Just imagine how long the line at the taxi stand will be, _she thought to herself. She sighed. _I should have just driven and parked my car at the airport. Or taken on Chuck's offer to pick me up at the airport._ Because it was so crowded, it made the place rather hot. In attempt to combat the heat, she gathered her long blonde hair into a quick ponytail. She was glad to be back, but this just dampened her mood.

As she walked out into the arrival hall, her eyes scanned the signs for the nearest taxi stand. Before she could locate what she was looking for, she heard someone calling her name.

'Sarah!'

Whipping around, her ponytail almost hitting the person behind her, she found Chuck walking towards her, carrying Sophie in one arm and holding on to Tyler – who was toddling along beside him – with his other.

Seeing Sarah, Tyler began jumping with excitement. Chuck let go of his hand and allowed him to walk over to Sarah by himself, and trailed on behind him to catch him in case he fell. Sophie began squirming in his arms, so he let her down as well.

Seeing them, she smiled brightly. Her day was getting considerably better by the minute. Setting her duffle bag on the ground, she knelt down and opened her arms wide. Tyler walked straight into her arms, and she wrapped them around him and gave him a kiss on the head, breathing in his baby scent as she did so. 'Hi Tyler, I missed you.'

Just then, Sophie made it over to her. 'Hi Sawah. Me miss you,' she babbled.

'Oh I missed you too, Sophie,' Sarah said, giving her a kiss and pulling her into the embrace as well. 'You guys have gotten so good at walking.'

Chuck smiled at the sight. Closing the distance, he squatted down in front of them. 'Hey,' he greeted.

'Hi,' she said, looking up at him, releasing the twins from her embrace. Sophie leaned up against her, whilst Tyler toddled back over to Chuck. 'What are you guys doing here?' she inquired, with a tone of surprise evident in her voice.

'Graham had to cancel the meeting because of some emergency. Since the twins haven't been out in a while, I thought it would be a good idea to come pick you up. And I figured you probably wouldn't want to wait in that line for a taxi,' he said, motioning to the long line by the exit.

Sarah didn't know what to say so she just smiled. It was crazy how he could read her mind, yet it was comforting to know that there was someone who genuinely cared for her – someone she could fall back on. She ran her hands mindlessly through Sophie's soft blonde hair as she stared at him.

'So how was the flight? Are you hungry?'

'It was okay.' She stopped playing with Sophie's hair and wrapped her arm around her once more. 'And yeah, I'm a little hungry.'

'I was thinking, maybe we could grab a bite and then stop for some ice cream on the home.'

'Ice cweam,' Sophie squealed excitedly as she began bouncing up and down.

Chuck laughed. 'This little girl has developed a love for ice cream,' he said, tapping Sophie's lips gently.

'Ice cweam?' Tyler asked, obviously excited as well. Chuck ruffled his hair as he said, 'and so has this little guy.'

Sarah laughed. 'Looks like we're definitely stopping for ice cream then.'

'Well, we'd better get going then,' he said, standing up and pulling Tyler up into his arms. Sarah gathered Sophie up into her arms and stood up as well. Just as she was about to grab her duffle bag, he leaned over and grabbed it from her. 'Here. Let me get that.'

'Thanks.'

As they made their way to the car, Chuck began telling her everything she'd missed in the time she was in London. She laughed at the twins' antics, and she marvelled at how he could juggle so much pressure and stress and yet still appear so happy and upbeat all the time. Knowing that what she was doing was helping to keep him safe and helping relieve some of his stress and responsibility made it all worth it.

_Home_. The word resonated in her mind, warmed her heart to the brim and brought a smile to her face. The walls she'd spent so many years building up were rapidly crumbling down. He'd changed her; they'd changed her, and she could not lose them now, or ever. And so she made a vow to herself; _I will do whatever it takes to keep them safe._

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to leave me a review on the way out (:

The next chapter will be up sometime in the following couple of weeks. Stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys, Happy New Year! I'm finally back with a new chapter of Life As We Know It. I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long...I had a little writers' block, and I guess life just caught up on me at the same time. To make up for it, this chapter is a little longer than usual; the longest chapter of this story thus far. (: As always, thanks for your continued support and all your awesome reviews. I really appreciate it. (:

Without further ado, here is the next chapter of Life As We Know It. Enjoy!**  
**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chuck, but I sure do miss it.

* * *

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

**BURBANK, 8:30am  
**

It had been three weeks since Sarah returned from her mission in London. Since then, Chuck had made almost zero progress with the Intersect project. This meant that Sarah hadn't been on a mission for almost three weeks, but funnily enough, she didn't feel the itch for a mission. They'd settled into somewhat of a routine they followed loosely day in and day out: breakfast, morning playtime, lunch, the twins go down for their nap, Chuck retreats to work on the project, Sarah runs some errands around the house, and so on and so forth.

This particular morning was the same, yet different. Tossing the last dirty diaper in the trash, Chuck wiped his hands down with a wet wipe before picking the twins up, one in each arm. Tyler was sucking his thumb, whilst Sophie clutched her bunny tightly her small hands. Hoisting the twins up higher on his arms, Chuck could smell an unidentifiable smell coming from the kitchen. He was the cook of the house; Sarah had never cooked since moving in. He was usually the one who made breakfast. If he didn't make breakfast, they would either have toasted bread, cereal or oatmeal. 'Let's go find out what Sarah is up to.'

'Sawah,' Sophie repeated after him. She loved imitating people; by doing so, she'd developed quite the vocabulary for a one year old. Tyler, on the other hand, was a little more hesitant about speaking - only occasionally saying a couple of words.

As he neared the kitchen, the smell became more and more apparent; from what he could decipher, it was something between a mixture of egg and burning toast. Finally reaching the kitchen, he saw Sarah by the stove cooking up a storm. 'Morning,' he said. 'What'cha doing?'

'Hey,' she replied. 'I am,' she paused and turned around holding a spatula in one hand with a look of concentration on her face. '- trying to make breakfast.' Upon hearing a sizzling sound on the stove, she turned back and tried to savage what was left of the stuff she was cooking.

Feeling the twins squirming in his arms, Chuck diverted his attention away from her and onto them. Placing Sophie down on the counter of the kitchen island, he settled Tyler down in his high chair that was attached to the counter. After handing him a bottle of milk Sarah had prepared earlier on in the morning, he proceeded to settle Sophie down in her seat. However, he only managed to get her half in when he heard a clattering sound coming from the stove.

Looking up, he saw oil flying out everywhere from the pan. Sarah's hand flew to the spot on her arm where some oil had hit her. 'Crap,' she murmured under her breath. 'Ow.'

Sitting Sophie down in her seat as fast as he could, he ran over to the stove and turned the fire off. Grabbing Sarah lightly by her shoulder, he led her over to the sink and turned the tap on. 'Run it under cold water for a while. I'm going to see if I can find the first-aid kit.'

Sarah did as she was told and placed the part of her arm that had been splashed with oil under the stream of cold water. The water helped dull the pain; upon closer examination, she found that the burn was only about the size of a penny.

After a few of minutes of rummaging, Chuck finally located the drawer that housed the first-aid kit. 'Found it.' Reaching into the drawer, he pulled out a couple of large bandages and a tube of ointment for burns. He brought the items over to where Sarah was standing and, pulling her arm out from under the stream of water, he inspected the damage. Turning the tap off, he rested her arm gently on the counter. Bending down slightly, he carefully applied a layer of ointment over the affected area before wrapping it securely with a bandage. She watched in silence and awe as he treated her burns. _Where does he learn how to do all this stuff?_

Straightening up, he screwed the cap back onto the tube of cream and placed it on the counter. 'All done.'

She gave him a large smile, hoping it would be able to convey the extent of her gratitude to him. 'Thanks.'

Her bright blue eyes glistened under the sunlight that shone brightly through the window by the sink; Chuck felt his breath hitch as he fought the urge to reach out and pull her close. Breaking the gaze to alleviate the temptation, he turned his attention to the mess on the stove. Taking a step towards the stove, he picked up the spatula and pushed what was left in the pan around slightly. 'What do we have here?'

'Uh – ' Sarah hesitated. 'French toast?' she said, stepping in front of him and grabbing the spatula out of his hand. _I clearly fail at this_, she thought to herself. Bringing the pan over to the trash, she tossed the burnt piece of toast before returning the pan to the stove. Handing the spatula back to him, she asked, 'Would you like to cook?'

Taking the spatula back, he set it down in the pan and grabbed the bowl containing the egg mixture she'd made. 'You haven't had much cooking experience, have you?'

She shook her head. 'Nope.'

'Come on. I'll teach you,' he said, turning the stove on, then clearing a spot on the counter in front of him so he could place the bowl down. Placing the bowl down on the counter, he grabbed a clean slice of bread and dipped it into the egg mixture, being sure to cover the entire slice of bread with egg. Leaving the slice of bread in the egg mixture, he moved over to the stove. Sarah followed him. 'The key to the perfect French toast is to not add too much oil. That way, it won't begin splattering and the toast won't be too oily.' He paused as he inspected the pan. 'I think there's enough oil in the pan.'

He reached over and grabbed the bowl containing the egg mixture and the slice of bread. Using his hands, he took the slice of egg-covered bread and placed it carefully in the heated pan. He grabbed the spatula and used it to move the slice of bread around the pan a little. 'We're just going to give it 2 to 3 minutes on this side before we flip it,' he said, placing the spatula down on the counter.

'How do you know how to do all this stuff?' Sarah asked.

'My parents.' He paused as he thought of a good way to phrase what he wanted to say. 'Well, kinda, because it was only because of their departure that Ellie and I learnt to cook so we could sustain ourselves. They left us a good amount of money so we technically could have ordered takeout every meal and still have money to spare for other things, but who wants to live on takeout?' Upon hearing a soft sizzling sound, he knew the bread was ready to be flipped. Picking up the spatula, lifted the piece of bread slightly to check if it was golden brown, and upon confirmation, flipped the bread before setting the spatula back down on the counter. 'We used to have accidents in the kitchen all the time,' he reminisced. 'It all comes from experience.'

Sarah chuckled. That was Chuck, always with his stories from his childhood. She loved hearing them, but they made her wish she had half the happy memories he had. Suddenly, a shrieking sound interrupted her thoughts. It was followed by a crying sound, then joined by a second set of cries. Turning around, she found both the twins crying. In the midst of all the chaos, Chuck had forgotten to give Sophie her bottle of milk. Seeing her brother downing his milk happily, she couldn't stand to wait a second longer. A loud shriek emanated through the house as Sophie began throwing a tantrum; it was a very big deal as tantrums were a rarity for both of the twins. She flung her bunny around madly as she began crying, reaching out for the bottle of milk sitting on the counter that was out of her reach. An ear of the bunny hit Tyler on the head, making him cry as well.

Picking up her bottle of milk, Sarah maneuvered herself around the kitchen island and handed Sophie her bottle of milk. Upon receiving her beloved milk bottle, she was content and immediately settled down and stopped crying. Tyler, on the other hand, wouldn't stop crying. Sarah picked him up from his seat and held him in her arms. 'Shhh.' She bounced him up and down as she walked over to the stove where Chuck was cooking, trying to soothe him. 'Look. Look what Chuck is making,' she whispered softly to him. She cradled him in an upright position, and his cries slowly began to die down as he watched Chuck flip the piece of toast onto a plate. 'Owie.'

'Did Sophie's bunny hurt you?' Sarah asked.

Tyler nodded. 'Here. I'll give you a kiss.' Sarah leaned down and planted a kiss on his head. 'All better?'

Tyler nodded again, then rested his head on Sarah's chest. Leaning down, she gave him another kiss before wrapping her arms tighter around him and pulling him closer in to her. They watched in silence as Chuck cooked another piece of toast. When he was done, he offered the spatula to her. 'Want to try?'

'Umm...sure,' she said a little hesitantly, accepting the spatula in one hand and handing Tyler off to Chuck.

* * *

**15 minutes later**

'This is some good stuff,' Chuck said, placing the last piece of toast on his plate in his mouth. 'You did well, Sarah.'

'Thanks,' Sarah said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. 'I had a good teacher.'

They were just about done with breakfast when the doorbell rung.

'I'll get it,' Chuck said, placing his fork down on his empty plate and getting up from his stool at the kitchen island. He made his way past the living room, and into the main hall. Reaching the front door, he peered out the peephole to see who was at the door. He saw a woman with brown hair and a medium build standing on the porch. She seemed familiar.

Unlocking the door, he pulled it open only to be greeted by a gust of cold air. 'Hi-oh. It's cold,' he exclaimed, shutting his eyes momentarily.

'Morning Mr Bartowski,' she greeted. 'I'm Kristin Woods, your caseworker from social services.'

It finally clicked. His eyes snapped open as he studied the woman in front of him. She was the woman he met that fateful night after the accident had occurred.

'Hi. Uh, how can I help you?' he asked.

'As your caseworker, it is my duty to perform a few routine visits on you and the children. Today marks the day of your first visit.'

'Okay,' Chuck said, still trying to process the information.

'Can I come in?'

'Uh...sure.'

* * *

'Okay, so, let's just talk,' Kristin started. 'I just want to get a sense of the both of you and how you've felt since being entrusted with the care of Sophie and Tyler.'

They were sitting at the dining table with Chuck and Sarah on one side and Kristin on the other side, facing them.

'It's been good,' Chuck started.

'Yeah,' Sarah agreed.

'No arguments, no complaints?'

'No,' Chuck replied.

'What I want to know is whether or not the two of you are in this for good. We want to avoid them losing more people they are close to, and they do not have any living relatives, but if the two of you aren't up for it, an alternative situation would be to put them up for foster care, and then potentially adoption,' Kristin explained. 'I understand that this is a big decision and a big undertaking – '

'I'm in,' Sarah said, cutting Kristin off.

'I'm in too,' Chuck chimed in.

'Umm...okay,' Kristin said, picking up her pen and jotting something in her notebook. 'Well, I'll put your names down for the time being – if you decide to change your minds in the next couple of days, please don't hesitate to contact me.' Placing her pen down, she crossed her arms and looked up at Chuck and Sarah. 'How have the kids been?'

'They've been eating well, and having very normal bowel movements,' Sarah said.

'Sophie's been speaking more and more lately,' Chuck added. 'Tyler, on the other hand, is beginning to speak, but he's a little quieter than his sister.'

'What have they been calling you?' Kristin asked.

'They call us Chuck and Sarah,' Chuck answered. 'But Sophie did call me dada one time when she was half asleep.'

'Did you correct her?'

'Yes.'

'Okay,' she said, jotting something else down in her notebook. 'If you guys are thinking of being in this for the long run, you really should consider what you want them to call you, and stick with it. Whether it's Chuck and Sarah, or mom and dad...it's up to you. But just make sure it feels natural to them.'

Chuck and Sarah nodded in understanding.

'Well this wraps up our first meeting,' Kristin said, closing her notebook.

* * *

**Chuck's Office, 3:00pm**

'Agent Walker, I am still waiting on a mission for you. Orion has completely dropped off our radar since your last encounter with him in London three weeks ago. In the meantime, until we pick up a trace on him, you will remain on standby.'

'Yes ma'am.'

Beckman crossed her arms and leaned up against her table. 'The CIA is organizing a memorial service for Agents Larkin and Miller. They have served the country well, and deserve to be recognized for their hard work and service. The date has been set for the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, exactly a week from yesterday. I assume you both will be in attendance?'

'Yes ma'am,' they said simultaneously.

'Very well. Agent Walker, you are dismissed.' She paused and turned to look at Chuck. 'Agent Bartowski, a word?'

'Yes?'

Beckman waited until Sarah had left the office before continuing.

'I understand you have not made much progress with the Intersect project recently.'

'I'm sorry General. It's just, it's hard.' He paused. 'You have no idea badly I want to complete this project. Working for the CIA is not a safe profession. I've known it all along, but now, with two kids in my care, I feel like it's time to put an end to this. I want nothing better than to complete this project by the time my contract expires in a few months and leave.'

'I understand. Which is why I am suggesting you take a short break off work.'

'I can't. I have to get it finished – '

'Chuck.' He froze. General Beckman had just addressed him by his first name. This was not something that happened...ever. 'Director Graham and I both agree that you are too emotionally and psychologically compromised at the moment with all the events that have transpired in the past month. You need a break.' She paused as she leaned up closer to her monitor. 'Listen. I'm not one to meddle with people's personal lives, but as Agent Larkin's former superior, I was entrusted with the job of going through some of his paperwork. Whilst going through some of his more recent paperwork, I found the documents for a trip to the Maldives trip he'd planned. Take a look.'

Beckman pressed a button, and a document appeared on Chuck's screen. She gave him a few moments to process the document.

'Sarah was going on that trip as well?' he murmured in confusion under his breath.

'I suggest you go ahead with this holiday. No missions, no spies, just you, Sarah and the kids. She needs the holiday as much as you do.'

She could see him contemplating the idea in his head.

'I'll leave you to it. You're dismissed.'

* * *

**THREE DAYS LATER  
**

**Ellie's apartment, 6:30pm  
**

Ellie stood up at the dinner table and hit her glass three times with a fork to gather everyone's attention. 'Hi everyone. I'd like to thank everyone for coming, and I would just like to make a small toast.' She raised her glass, and the rest followed suit. 'Happy Thanksgiving,' she said.

'Happy Thanksgiving,' everyone replied in unison.

'Dig in.'

As she sat down, Chuck held out his glass to her. 'Happy Mother's Day, El.'

'Happy Mother's Day,' she replied as they clinked their glasses together.

Sarah, who was sitting on the other side of Chuck, was confused. It was late November – nowhere near Mother's day. 'Mother's Day?' She asked.

Chuck and Ellie both turned to look at her. Chuck looked back and forth between the two women sitting beside him before settling his gaze on Sarah and beginning to speak. 'Mother's day is the anniversary of the day our mom left us. Our dad was here, but he was never really here. So now, every year, we celebrate the day we learnt to take care of ourselves – '

' - and rely on each other,' Ellie finished.

Sarah nodded in understanding.

* * *

Ellie was on the way to her room to get a jumper to put on when Chuck pulled her into his room. 'Hey El, can we talk?'

'Sure,' she said, sitting down on his bed in a cross-legged position. 'Shoot.'

'I'm thinking of possibly taking a little vacation –'

'That would be good for you. You've been under a lot of stress lately,' she said, looking into her brother's tired and worn out face. 'Any ideas?'

'Well, before Bryce died, he invited me on a vacation to the Maldives. Beckman was going through his stuff, and she found this.' He pulled out a piece of paper with Bryce's plan of the vacation on it and handed it to his sister.

'Who's Beckman?' Ellie asked.

'Uhh...' Chuck hesitated. 'Beckman is Bryce's lawyer,' he lied. He hated the fact that he was now telling his sister more and more lies – it gave him all the more motivation to get the project done and to get out of the spy business.

'Oh.' Ellie looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand. 'I see Sarah's name is on here as well. Have you talked to her about it?'

'No,' Chuck said sheepishly. 'I don't know how to ask her. How do you ask someone if they want to go on vacation with you or not?'

'Well, Bryce asked you,' Ellie pointed out.

'But that's different,' he insisted as he began pacing back and forth in front of Ellie.

'Just ask: Do you want to go on a vacation with me.'

'But what if she doesn't want to.'

'Well you'll never know if you don't ask.'

'But –'

'Chuck,' Ellie interjected. 'Sit down,' she said, patting the spot beside her.

'I think Sarah would love to go on a vacation with you.'

'Why do you say so?'

Ellie shrugged. 'Woman's instincts.' She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small drawstring pouch. 'Take this. I think it would be the perfect opportunity to give her this.'

'I don't even know if we're going yet,' Chuck said, opening the bag and tipping its contents out onto the palm of his hand. 'It's – '

'Mom's charm bracelet,' Ellie finished.

'Why are you giving this to me now?'

'Remember what dad said about it?'

Chuck ransacked his mind for his father's words. 'Yeah, but – '

'Every time you look at her, I see your eyes light up ever so brightly.'

'Yeah...that could just be light reflecting off my eyes,' he mumbled, fumbling with the bracelet in his hand.

'Chuck. Look at me. Tell me you don't have feelings for her.'

'I – '

'Think about it,' she said, getting up and giving him a light pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.

Staring at the bracelet in his hand, he could hear his father's words resonating through his mind. _I gave this bracelet to your mom the day Ellie was born. I want you to save it for someone special._

* * *

Sarah was sitting on the single couch with a sleeping Sophie in her arms. Sophie lay with her front on Sarah, with her head leaning sideways on Sarah's chest just below her shoulder, and Sarah had an arm draped around her bottom to keep her from slipping. He watched from the kitchen as she pulled out a small blanket out of the bag of supplies they'd brought over and drape it over the little girl to keep her warm.

He was in the kitchen grabbing a drink when Morgan walked up beside him. 'Hey.'

'Hey,' he replied.

There was a moment of silence as Chuck kept on watching Sarah and Sophie whilst Morgan went about preparing the drink he came into the kitchen for. When he was done pouring, he looked up and followed Chuck's gaze.

'How do you do it, man?' Morgan asked, breaking the silence. 'How do you spend so much time with her and not fall head over heels for her?'

'I don't know, buddy.' Reaching into his pocket, he fumbled with the little bag with the charm bracelet in it. 'Maybe I already have,' he whispered softly.

* * *

**THREE DAYS LATER  
**

**Central Park, CA, 10:00am  
**

It was the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. It was a beautiful day – bright and sunny; yet it was also the day of Bryce and Carina's memorial service. The service was being held in a park outdoors. The twins were dressed in their finest and given the centre of attention, despite not understanding a thing of what was happening. Chuck and Sarah, along with Ellie, who Chuck insisted should come along, had been given front row seats.

As the service proceeded, tears threatened to spill from Sarah's eyes. She tried her hardest to keep them at bay, but just as it was ending, it was getting to the point in which she could just barely keep them from spilling over. So, handing Tyler off to Ellie, she ran. Not because she wanted to, but it was what she'd been taught to do all her life. _Never show your vulnerability._ As she was running, she could hear the steady padding to footsteps against the soft grass behind her. She knew he was following her. Coming to a stop under an oak tree, she stood facing the tree with her back to him.

And there it went. Her eyes welled over and one tear slipped out, followed by another, then another. Wiping them away with the back of her hand, she turned her head to the side ever so slightly. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see that he was still there, standing quietly with a few tissues in his hand.

'Tissue?' He offered in a soft voice.

Another tear ran down her face. Not wanting him to see her cry, she said, 'Go away.'

But he didn't move. He stayed glued to his position behind her, holding the tissues out for her.

_Just go away, Chuck. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into._ She could not begin to describe the emotions coursing through her. Everything was just so overwhelming that she lost it. 'I know you're still there, Chuck.' She paused to compose herself. 'Stop it...just stop, okay?'

After a pregnant pause, he finally began to speak. 'I'm sorry,' he started, with a tinge of hurt laced in his voice. 'I'll ju-just go back –.' Placing the tissues down on a small rock behind her, he turned and begun walking back to where the ceremony was.

She could no longer hold it back. For the first time in her life, she let the tears stream freely down her face. She cried for the loss of her best friends. She cried for Sophie and Tyler, who would never get to know their parents. She cried for Chuck, who had been thrust into this new life without any warning and was now stuck with her, an emotionally stunted spy who didn't know the slightest thing about how to live a normal life. But most of all, she cried because she was scared – scared she would screw this all up.

Finally mustering up the courage to turn around, she found that he was no longer there anymore. Her tears marred her vision, but if she could see clearly, she would have seen him watching her intently from back where the ceremony had taken place with a look of worry and concern etched on his face.

* * *

The car ride back home was awfully quiet. He kept his eyes trained on the road, and she fixated her gaze on what was outside the passenger window. She snuck a couple of occasional glances at him; each time, he was in the same position and with the same expression on his face – an expression she could not decipher. It was unlike chuck.

As soon as they arrived home, Chuck whisked the twins off for a bath without saying so much of a word to her. She stayed downstairs for a while, hanging up jackets and cleaning up the front entry hall. After she was done, she made her way upstairs.

Walking up the stairs, she could hear talking and giggling coming from the bathroom connected to the nursery. 'You're a stinky monster,' rubbing Tyler's head. Chuck had started a bubble bath for the twins and they were playing in the water with each other and their toys.

'Bubble,' Sophie babbled, pointing to the bubbles in the tub. 'Bubba,' she said, pointing to her brother.

'That's right, Soph.'

'Bubble.' 'Bubba.' Bubble.' Sophie kept on babbling on as she played with the water.

Standing in the doorway, she could not restrain herself any longer. 'You need help?'

Turning around, he found himself face to face with her. 'Sure.'

'Sawah.' Tyler reached out a bubble covered hand and flexed it. Sarah pulled up her sleeves and squatted down by the tub. Just as she'd squatted down, she noticed something peculiar about Tyler's expression. 'Chuck, he's making the poo face.'

'Who?' Chuck questioned, not being able to hear clearly because of the noises the twins were making.

'Tyler,' Sarah said in an urgent tone. 'He's going to poo in the tub.'

Chuck scooped him out of the tub and moved over to where the toilet was. 'Can you get the cover?'

Sarah tried to open the cover of the toilet, but it was stuck. The contraption they'd put on to prevent the twins from opening the toilet cover was jammed.

'Oh gosh,' Chuck said, holding Tyler up so if he pooed, he wouldn't poo on him.

'It's jammed,' Sarah exclaimed. 'Uhh...,' she said, scanning the bathroom for something to catch the poo. She spotted a baseball cap hanging on the back of the door. 'Hat!'

She grabbed the cap off its hanging place and managed to get it under Tyler's butt just as he began pooing.

They both let out a sigh of relief as they'd just avoided a catastrophic poo explosion. 'Aww, that was Bryce's favourite hat.'

Sarah laughed. 'Well, now that it's been pooed on – '

'Yeah. I think we'd be better off just throwing it away.'

'Poo poo,' Sophie babbled from the tub.

* * *

Sarah sat in the on the rocking chair in the nursery with Sophie cradled in her arms. Tyler was already fast asleep in his cot; he'd fallen asleep right after he finished his bottle of milk. Looking down, Sarah stared into Sophie's little angelic face and as thoughts began running through her mind. 'It's okay to accept help, right?' She asked rhetorically. Sophie responded with a little giggle as she began playing with the ends of Sarah's hair. 'You know, sometimes you just get so sick and tired of doing things alone...'

It didn't take long for Sophie to drift off. Sarah carefully placed her in her cot and covered her with a blanket before giving her a goodnight kiss. 'Night night.' Moving over to Tyler's cot, she straightened his blanket and gave him a kiss as well. 'Sleep tight,' she whispered.

Making sure the baby monitor was on, she turned the lights off and exited the nursery, easing the door shut behind her.

The room next door was Chuck's room. _The lights are still on_. Peering into his room, she found him standing with his back to her, staring out the window into the dark night. Taking a deep breath, she knocked lightly on the door. 'Can I come in?' She asked softly.

'Yeah,' he said without turning around, his voice with a little quiver to it.

Wringing her hands nervously, she took a few small steps into the room. Taking a deep breath, she began letting the words she'd been thinking about the whole evening flow out of her mouth, hoping they would come out the right way. 'Are you mad at me?'

'Why would you think so?' He questioned softly.

'Because you've been really quiet,' she said, taking another step in towards him.

Silence. She watched his back, silently hoping that he would just turn around so she could see the expression on his face. Although she wasn't good at expressing her own emotions, she was pretty good at reading other people's emotions. It was one of the few good traits she'd inherited from her father.

'No,' he said gently, finally turning around to face her. 'No, I'm not mad.' He paused. 'It's just...it's been a hard day.'

Staring into his face, she could tell he'd been crying by the few remnants of tears that still clung to his face. She grabbed a tissue out of the tissue box sitting on the bedside table and handed it to him.

As he took them in his hand, he let out a small laugh as he though of how subtly ironic the situation was, when a few hours ago, he was the one handing the tissues to her. 'Thanks.'

'Umm...,' she started, taking another step towards him. 'I want to apologise for loosing it on you this afternoon.' She paused. 'I guess I was just so overwhelmed with all the stress and pressure that has been building up over the past month...,' she said, trailing off.

'I'm sorry too,' he said, playing with the tissues in his hand. 'I'm sorry if I came off as a nuisance, but growing up, it's the way Ellie always taught me to be.'

He was always the gentleman, so kind and forgiving, taking all the blame onto himself. He was the epitome of, well, everything you would look for in the perfect man. 'Ellie taught you well.' She stopped as she searched his chocolate brown eyes, finding them filled with genuine care and concern for her. 'You're not a nuisance, Chuck. You care, Chuck. And that's what's great about you.'

She could no longer hold the eye contact any longer. Breaking it, she diverted her gaze out the window behind him and closed her eyes. 'All my life, I've been taught to push people away and not to rely on anyone. I've never really had anyone in my life who cared about me, well, at least not in this way –'

Never in a million years would she have thought that she would actually say something like this to a man. She could feel him closing the distance between them, then a sense if warmth encompassing her hands as he took her hands in his and began rubbing small circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

' – and you're finally learning that it's okay to accept help, and that you don't have to do everything alone,' Chuck finished.

Her eyes snapped open. _How did he know what she wanted to say?_

Chuck laughed at her reaction. 'I heard you talking to Sophie.'

She blushed madly, her cheeks turning a shade of cherry red. Pulling her hands out from his, she gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

He feigned hurt. 'Ow,' he said with massive exaggeration and a smile on his face. 'What can I say? Sound travels in a quiet house.'

'I know.'

It took a while for them both to calm down – a while for Sarah's embarrassment to pass, and a while for Chuck's laughter to die down.

When Chuck determined that they were both sufficiently calm, he pulled the folded sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Sarah.

'What's this?' She asked, unfolding the piece of paper.

'It's Bryce's plan for the trip to the Maldives.' He said. He watched as she scanned the sheet of paper, noting the fact that both their names were listed under the bookings. 'I think remember Carina asking me about this,' she started. 'But why are you showing me this?'

'What do you think,' he began hesitatingly, 'about taking a trip to the Maldives...just you, me and the kids? You know, just to have a couple of days to rest...'

Looking up from the piece of paper, she smiled as she watched him talk. She could tell he was nervous, because he kept babbling on and on about the same thing. It was cute.

'...Beckman suggested it, and I think...'

'Chuck,' she interjected. He didn't hear her.

'...and all the reservations have been made – '

'Chuck,' she said a little louder this time.

'Yeah?'

'I think it's a good idea.'

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to leave me a review on the way out (:

The next chapter will hopefully be up in the next week or two.

PS. I have some awesome things planned for the next chapter...when sparks really begin to fly :P Stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Here is the next chapter of Life As We Know It, as promised. This chapter will hopefully make a lot of you very happy.

Thanks for your continual support; I really appreciate it! Keep 'em coming. (:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chuck, and any mistakes are mine.

* * *

**THREE DAYS LATER  
**

**MALDIVES, RESORT, 5:00pm (UTC+5)  
**

'Should I have asked for separate beds?' Chuck questioned, walking into the room with Tyler in one arm and using the other arm to hold the door open for Sarah.

'Umm...,' Sarah hesitated, walking in after him with Sophie and closing the door behind her. 'Uhh..no. It's okay,' she said. 'I mean, the woman at reception said they're pretty fully booked, so I don't suppose they'd have another room of this size available that can fit two cribs.' She paused as she set Sophie down on the bed. 'And two rooms would just be unnecessary.'

'Right. Yeah.'

They'd just arrived at the resort in the Maldives after almost a whole day of traveling, with a short layover in London. The twins behaved very well throughout the whole journey – they were even complimented by multiple air hostesses for being the best behaved kids they'd seen in a long time. That was the easy part. The hard part about traveling with two young kids was the amount of baggage they had to bring. They had two large suitcases, a double stroller and two carry on bags for diapers and milk. Packing was a long and tedious process – they had never packed for kids before so they didn't know what to do or expect, but they, like always, pulled through.

Not long after arriving, Chuck called Ellie to tell her that they'd arrived safely. Ellie was adamant that Chuck give her a room tour of the room they had; upon seeing the one king sized bed, she could not conceal the smile on her face and just about managed to prevent herself from squealing with delight. _These kids are in for something_, she though to herself.

After they had somewhat settled in, they ordered some room service for dinner, put the twins to bed and started preparing for bed themselves.

As Sarah walked out of the bathroom, she found Chuck sitting on the right side of the bed with the pillows propped up behind him, reading a book. Hearing her footsteps, he looked up. 'Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch?' He asked, motioning to the small couch in the corner of the room next to the two cribs.

Walking over to the left side of the bed, she pulled the hair tie out of her hair and tossed it down on the bedside table.

'The bed is big enough,' she insisted, pulling the blankets up slightly so she could slip herself in. 'Besides, you're too tall for the couch.'

'Right,' he said, folding down a corner of the page he was on to mark his spot before closing the book and placing it down on the nightstand beside him. 'Okay. So I guess we'll just sleep.'

'Yeah.'

Reaching over, they both turned their bedside lamps off simultaneously. The room was completely dark, save a beam moonlight shining through the sheer curtains. Laying down, they both kept to their side of the bed. It was almost like there was an imaginary line drawn between the two.

'Night,' Sarah whispered.

'Night.'

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING, 8:30am****  
**

He could feel a sense of warmth encompassing him. _This feels good_. Inching his eyelids open, his eyes were met with the bright glare of the sun, clearly indicating that it was morning. But that was not the source of warmth. He found himself wrapped around her, their legs intertwined, her back pressed up against him and his hand gently rested on top of her's.

He sucked in his breath as he felt her stir. Her hand began moving slowly, and began playing with his fingers absentmindedly. He didn't know what to do. _Should I pull away, or should I..._

Her head turned, and he suddenly found himself looking straight at the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. Her long blonde locks were slightly tousled from sleep, a morning daze still clouding her eyes. Their faces were a mere few inches apart; he could feel her breath lightly grazing his cheeks. Looking into those auburn blue eyes, he couldn't hold it in any longer. Closing the gap between them, his lips crashed onto hers.

He ran his fingers through her hair as she placed a hand on his cheek. She responded fervently, almost desperately, releasing all the pent up passion that had been suppressed - everything that had been compartmentalized over the past month.

When they finally had to break for air, Sarah fell back onto the mattress whilst Chuck hovered over beside her, using a hand to prop his head up. It was silent as they both tried to process what had just happened. Sarah adverted her gaze to the ceiling as Chuck fell back onto the bed next to her.

_Waaaaah. _The silence was pierced with the escalating sound of a child's cry. _Waaaaah, waaah, wah._ Chuck slowly pulled himself off the bed to tend to the crying child.

* * *

**9:30am**

Sarah was in the bathroom getting herself ready for the pool. Staring at her own reflection in the mirror above the sink, she brought a hand to her face and ran her fingers slowly over her lips. She couldn't help but think about the sensation of his lips on hers.

Neither of them mentioned anything about the kiss over breakfast. They went about as if nothing had happened, although both of them were clearly still thinking about it.

Outside, Chuck had Sophie standing on the bed as he lathered sunscreen on her body. _Was that awkward? Should I have done that?_ Engrossed in his thoughts, he absentmindedly began pulling on the little girl's arm too hard. She let out a little cry, bringing him back to consciousness.

'I'm sorry honey,' he said, rubbing her arm gently and giving her kiss. 'That was my fault.' Finishing up on Sophie, he sat her down and pulled Tyler up.

Picking up the bottle of sunscreen, he began squeezing a trail of cream down Tyler's arm. Upon contact, Tyler pulled away because it was cold. Luckily, Chuck was able to stop squeezing quick enough so that none of the cream got onto the bed.

'Tyler,' Chuck said, grabbing hold of the little boy. 'Who's the muscle man?'

'Me,' Tyler replied.

'Can you show me your muscles?' Chuck asked, holding an arm up to show his biceps. Tyler giggled as he imitated Chuck with both arms.

'That's right,' Chuck said. 'Now the muscle man isn't scared of sunscreen. Can you let me put sunscreen on you?'

Tyler nodded with his arms still raised. He stood still as he allowed Chuck to cover him in sunscreen. 'Thank you, muscle man.'

Sarah let out a small laugh as she watched the interaction between Chuck and Tyler from the door of the bathroom. Chuck looked up sheepishly as he felt his breath catch in his throat. She was wearing a bikini with a black sundress as a cover. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, and a pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head.

'Hey,' she said.

'Hey.'

'I'm done. You want to get ready? I'll take over.'

'Okay,' he said, closing the bottle of sunscreen and tossing it on the bed. 'I put them in swim diapers already, and I pulled their swimsuits out just now,' he said, motioning to the console table by the entrance of the room.

Grabbing the swimsuits, she walked over to the bed where the twins were. Tyler's was a breeze – it was just a pair of pants she had to pull up over his diaper. Sophie's was more of a challenge. The swimsuit had criss-cross straps, and she could not seem to get Sophie's legs through the right holes so the straps would lie correctly.

'Why on earth did we choose to bring this swimsuit?' she muttered to herself.

After a few trials, she finally managed to get the suit on correctly. 'All done,' she said with a smile of accomplishment on her face. 'We're all ready to go to the pool now.'

'Poo,' Sophie repeated, missing out the 'l' sound.

'Poo poo,' Tyler said, imitating his sister.

'It's pool,' Sarah said slowly, enunciating every syllable carefully whilst stroking Sophie's hair gently, running her fingers through her hair to smooth the knots out.

'Poo,' Tyler said with a mischievous smile on his face.

* * *

**12:00pm**

They had a nice morning by the pool. The pool was surprisingly quiet for 10 o'clock in the morning. It was nice though, as they were able to grab nice seats by the kids pool. Tyler and Sophie loved the water. Sophie loved splashing about in the water, and Tyler entertained himself by dumping water repeatedly over his head with a bucket, giggling wildly each time.

They were having lunch at the main restaurant of the resort. They settled the twins down with a bottle of milk to begin with. Picking up his own cup, Chuck held it up. 'A toast to us. Because we made it here in one piece.'

'We did,' Sarah agreed.

'Cheers.'

'Cheers.'

The tension had somewhat faded since breakfast. The topic was still hanging over their heads, and neither was willing to bring it up, but at least it wasn't as blatantly awkward as before.

By the end of lunch, Tyler had fallen asleep at the table, and Sophie was on the verge of doing so as well. They were both worn out by the morning's activities and were clearly in need of a nap.

* * *

**3:30pm**

'Bet you can't catch me,' Chuck challenged, taking off in the sand, going deliberately slow for the twins. The twins had had a good long nap, and were now recharged and ready to go.

'Go, go chase him,' Sarah encouraged, helping the twins to their feet. They toddled after Chuck slowly but steadily, Tyler in the lead and Sophie slightly behind him. When they reached him, he fell over dramatically and allowed them to crawl up on top of him. 'Oh no, you guys caught me.' He flailed his arms wildly. 'Ahh, I'm stuck.'

The twins erupted into a fit of giggles. Sarah came running over and dumped a bucket of sand over Chuck's feet. 'Come on, help me bury Uncle Chuck.'

Sarah began piling sand on Chuck, and with the help of the twins, they managed to cover Chuck completely in sand with the exception of his face. He closed his eyes to shield them from the glare of the sun.

'Night night, -uck,' Sophie said, patting the sand.

'Is he going night night?' Sarah asked, crossing her legs and pulling Sophie into her lap.

'U-huh,' she said, nodding.

Looking over at Tyler, she saw that he was fingering Chuck's face. 'Poke him, Ty.'

Tyler poked Chuck's cheek gently with his index finger. No response.

'Harder,' Sarah encouraged.

Tyler did as Sarah instructed, and this time, Chuck burst up out of the sand and grabbed Tyler with his arms. 'ROAR.'

Tyler giggled with delight. Rolling over, Chuck began tickling Tyler's sides, making him giggle uncontrollably. Sophie giggled as she watched Chuck tickle Tyler. Just then, Sarah began tickling her as well, making her squeal and giggle even harder.

* * *

**7:00pm**

'Did you have fun today?' Sarah asked Tyler.

The little boy settled himself in her lap and said, 'Yes.'

'What about you, Miss Sophie?'

'Yes,' she said, leaning up against her side.

They were all in bed, waiting for Chuck to finish his bedtime preparations in the bathroom so they could have story time. Tyler and Sophie both yawned almost simultaneously. 'These two munchkins are tired, aren't they?'

Just then, the bathroom door opened and Chuck stepped out. Sophie immediately perked up. 'Stowy.'

'Yes,' Chuck said, organizing the pillows on the bed before propping down. He pulled Sophie into his lap. 'What do you want to hear. Piggy or Ducky?'

'Piggy.'

'Okay, well once upon a time, there were three little pigs...'

* * *

**1:00am**

Chuck's eyes fluttered open only to realize that is was still dark. His eyes were drawn towards the small glowing digits of the digital clock mounted on the wall across the bed. 1:00 AM. Yesterday, he'd fallen right asleep the moment he hit the bed as he was completely drained from the flight and didn't wake up until morning. Perhaps it was the jet-lag kicking in. The twins, on the other hand, were actually dealing quite well with the time difference.

Rolling over, he found her side of the bed empty. Blinking a few times to rid his eyes of the last remnants of sleep, he sat up slightly, noticing the french doors that led out to the balcony were slightly ajar. It was then he noticed her out on the large balcony that came adjoined to their suite, leaning against the railings, staring out at the ocean, her silhouette framed by the bright beams of the full moon.

There was this unsaid thing that hung over them. Ever since the kiss earlier on in the morning, he was confused as to where they were at. _Maybe this is the moment you've been waiting for. This is your chance. _

Tearing his eyes away momentarily, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and allowed his feet to sink into the plush carpet that covered the ground. Reaching over, he pulled the first drawer of the bedside cabinet open and fumbled around in search for the little blue pouch. Upon locating the pouch, he slipped his feet into the slippers that awaited him at the foot of the bed before making his way over to the set of french doors that led out to the balcony.

Easing the door open quietly, he took a small step out. The sight he was met with was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined; the moonlight shining brightly over the glistening water, the plethora of stars twinkling in the sky, and of course, the most amazing woman standing before him. No. This was not a sight you could ever see on a normal basis.

Focusing his attention back onto his task at hand, he mustered up all his courage and strode up beside her. 'It's beautiful, isn't it?' he started softly, not wanting to startle her.

That voice – it was just that voice, even just the softest whispers - that made her heart jump like there was no tomorrow. She'd been thinking about him the whole day.

'Yeah,' she replied, turning to look at him with a radiant smile on her face. That grin of hers – it was just that grin – that made his heart expand exponentially in his chest.

'What are you doing up so late?'

She shrugged. 'Couldn't sleep,' she said, turning back to look at the ocean. They stood in silence for a while, listening to the soft sound of the waves beating against the shoreline, gazing out at the vast expanse before them.

'It's so pretty,' Sarah gushed quietly, the light tones of her voice penetrating the silence.

All Chuck could do was nod in understanding. Then, taking a big gulp, he glanced down at her wrist, then patted his pocket. _Here it goes._ Pulling the pouch out, he began fumbling with its drawstrings.'Uhh...Sarah?'

'Yeah?' she said, tearing her eyes from the scene before her and turning to face him once more.

'I have something for you,' he started, then clasped his lips together in concentration as he poured the bracelet out into the palm of his hand and undid the clasp. Taking her arm up gently, he fastened the bracelet onto her wrist.

When he was done, she brought her arm up slightly and held it up to the moonlight. The bracelet glimmered brightly under the beams of the moon. 'It's beautiful Chuck.'

'My dad gave it to my mom when Ellie was born. It's good luck.'

She brought her hand down and held her wrist out to him. 'Chuck, I can't take this.'

He grabbed onto her outstretched hand and lowered it, lacing his fingers between hers. 'My mom left it behind when she left us, and my dad gave it to me and told me to save it for someone special.' Stopping to take a breath, he looked up and found her gaze. 'You are that someone special. Sarah, will you go out with me?'

Looking into those warm, sincere chocolate colored eyes, she knew he meant every word of what he'd just said. But something, something made her break his gaze and extract her hand from his. 'I can't,' she said bluntly. She was doing it again – letting her stubborn old self take over and pushing the people that cared the most about her away.

'Why not?' he asked, his voice laced with hurt. She couldn't bear to look at him, so she fixated her eyes onto a small speck of light in the distance.

'Chuck, we're both agents. Feelings are a liability - they get you hurt. I can't afford to have feelings – ' She trailed off. It was true, but it was a very bad excuse nonetheless. Deep down, she knew she didn't feel that way anymore. Especially after that kiss the previous morning. It was just her, her stupid past and her stupid habits.

She could sense his gaze on her. 'We're agents, but we're humans too. We're entitled to have feelings. The CIA don't recommend relationships, but they don't forbid it.' Out of her peripheral vision, she saw him take a step towards her. 'Look Sarah. I don't want to be some pester – I mean, I've seen Bryce and Morgan go down that road way to many times - ' As he let out a small chuckle, she couldn't help but chuckle along softly herself. '- but I just want you to know how I feel about you. I know we didn't meet under the most normal of circumstances and that we haven't known each other for long, but for the first time in my life, I feel absolutely sure about something.' He paused, and she heard him take in a deep breath. 'I love you Sarah. I love you.'

Her breath hitched. This was the most sincere, heartfelt thing anyone had ever said to her. _How could anyone not fall right that man's arms and stay there forever and evermore?_

There was a moment of silence, but before she could form a response, he took a step away from her and leaned down slightly, his elbows resting gently on the railing of the balcony. 'I understand if you don't feel the same way about me...but you know...maybe...especially that kiss this morning...I thought we were...' His words came out an jumble. Not able to express himself coherently, he glanced over at her, waiting for her response.

She was staring out at the ocean, her eyes glistening with tears. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Taking a deep breath, she tried again and began slowly and softly. 'The more I get to know you, the more I fall for you. But the truth is, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm being selfish.' She turned and met his gaze. 'Chuck, you're the most amazing guy I've ever met, but you deserve someone better than me. I'm just a lost, broken spy with no place in the world, who doesn't know a thing about relationships, and who was thrust into this life with two beautiful kids. I just – ,' she stammered, 'I just don't feel like I deserve any of this. I feel like this is just a dream, and one say, I'm going to wake up and you're going to be gone...and I'll just be that spy I was again.' Her voice trailed off slowly, and she lowered her eyes as a stray tear slipped out.

Chuck felt a grin growing on his face; she did have feelings for him. He reached his arms out and gently snaked them around her waist, pulling her close. 'That's not true. Who's to say you don't deserve it?' Bringing a hand up to her face, he gently titled her head up so he could look into her eyes. Caressing her jawline softly, he brushed a tear rested there away. 'I don't care, Sarah. I don't want anyone else – I want you. I don't care who you were, because I know who you are now.' Sarah could feel more tears slipping over the brim of her eyes. 'I promise I'll always be there for you because I love you, Sarah Walker. With all my heart.'

She stood there, dumbstruck, lost for words. How did she ever get so lucky? Especially considering the line of work she worked in - never in a million years would she have thought she would be in such a position as she was in now. Not knowing how to respond – after all, she was a girl of action, not words – she brought a hand up to his neck, leaned up and met his lips with hers. He responded softly and tenderly; it was a kiss full of hope and love.

When they finally had to break for air, she didn't pull away. They rested their foreheads against one another. She felt her shoulders relaxing as she bit the bottom of her lip. It was something she did out of habit, whenever she was nervous.

Out of his peripheral vision, Chuck could see a shooting star passing by. 'It's a shooting star,' he whispered. 'Make a wish.'

Closing her eyes, she moved her head from his forehead and rested it on his chest. Enclosing her in a tight embrace, he watched as a smile began to grow on her face. Opening her eyes, she glanced up at him, and gave him a smile.

He continued staring at her. Looking at the beautiful scene before his eyes, he wanted nothing more than to capture this moment in time; everything was perfect.

'What?'

'You're just so beautiful,' he answered. She blushed as he leaned in for another kiss.

'Chuck, I'm scared.'

'I am too. But we'll work it out. Together.'

Sarah nodded. 'Together.'

So is it a yes?'

'Yes.'

* * *

**2:30am**

'Do you think we should head on in?' Sarah suggested. 'The kids are probably going to wake up in a couple hours or so. We should probably get some sleep.'

'Right. Yeah.'

As they made their way inside, their hands remained intertwined. It wasn't until Sarah excused herself for the bathroom that they released each others hand.

Standing in front of the sink, Sarah examined the bracelet closer under the soft light above. It was a simple chain with five charms attached to it, each charm probably with a special meaning to it. _I'm going to have to get him to explain it to me someday._

Turning from the bracelet, she stared at herself in the mirror and found a stupid smile plastered on her face. She tried to straighten her expression, but ended up failing miserably and smiling again. _How could he have such an effect on me?_

Finally able to calm herself down and somewhat school her expression, she walked out of the bathroom, turned the light off and eased the door shut. She saw him lying in bed, but from where she was standing, she couldn't tell whether he was awake or asleep.

Moving over to her side of the bed, she slid under the covers and stared at the ceiling. The smile returned to her face; she felt almost giddy. Suddenly, she felt something brush against her right hand. It happened again, and he slipped his hand into hers. Fingers intertwined, she began playing with his fingers.

She turned to find his gaze resting upon her. Looking into his eyes, she found a sense of warmth, comfort and security. There were no words spoken, but she knew it was an invitation for her to cuddle up with him.

Releasing his hand, she scooted over, closing the distance between them. Resting her head on his chest, she listened to the erratic beating of his heart as he wrapped his arms around her. 'Night.'

'Night.'

She'd found a new pillow.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to drop me a review on the way out. (:

More fluff coming your way next chapter. Stay tuned!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back with the next installment of Life As We Know It.

I've been having some internet issues which resulted in the delay of the posting of this chapter, but it's all good now. Thanks for all your continual support; I really appreciate it and it keeps me writing. Keep 'em coming! (:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chuck, and any mistakes are mine.

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING, 9:00am**

Sunlight pierced through the sheer satin curtains, dancing upon sleeping couple's intertwined bodies. Windows slightly ajar, the curtains rippled and fluttered from the slight breeze created by the ocean waves. The rhythmic sound of the waves lapping against the sand mingled with the chirping of the birds outside.

Sarah eased her eyes open slowly and drew in a deep breath, taking in the smell of the beachy morning air mingled with undertones of his delicious scent. She found herself snuggled up against his side with her arm draped lightly over his chest. She smiled. Bringing her arm in slightly, she began drawing soft circles on his chest. She smiled. _Boy, this feels good._

She felt a sense of undescribable happiness, a feeling one might describe to be bliss. It's the first time she's felt this way in a long time. There was nothing on her mind – no worries, no concerns, no nothing. Nothing else mattered in the world to her except the man lying beside her and the twins. Shifting slightly, she redirected her gaze to his face and took in his all features. _He really is quite handsome,_ she thought to herself. She watched as his eyes fluttered and he let out a comfortable sigh.

'Morning,' he whispered softly, his voice thick with sleep.

'Hi.'

'Mmm. That feels good.'

'Yeah?' She leaned up and gave him a long kiss on his lips. 'What about this?'

'That feels even better,' he said, smiling. Bringing his hand up to his chest, he laced his fingers into hers, brought her hand up to his mouth and smothered it in kisses.

'Why, thank you,' she said through giggles. Releasing her hand, he leaned down for another kiss. 'Please tell me this isn't a dream,' he said dreamily, his eyes fluttering close.

Stroking his cheek gently, she found it really cute how he was still half asleep. 'It's not – ' Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a whimpering sound. Turning to the source of the whimpering, she found Sophie standing in her crib, staring at her stuffed animal that had somehow fallen out of the crib and onto the ground. 'Bunny,' Sophie repeated softly.

' – I promise,' she finished. Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she untangled herself from him and moved over to pick Sophie's bunny up off the ground. Holding the stuffed animal in front of Sophie, she ruffled the little girl's soft blonde hair. 'Here you go.'

'Bunny.' Sophie clutched onto her bunny tightly as Sarah hoisted her out of the crib and placed her on the ground. Turning to the neighbouring crib, she scooped a sleeping Tyler up into her arms and guided Sophie towards the bed. Shifting Tyler into one arm, she used her free hand to help Sophie up onto the bed. 'Shh,' she told the little girl as Sophie crawled under the covers with her bunny in tow. Propping a few pillows up against the backboard, she sat down and leaned up against them, resting Tyler on top of herself.

Once she'd settled, Sophie cuddled up to her side. Bringing a hand to the child's forehead, she brushed a few stray hairs out of her face. 'Did you sleep well last night?' she asked softly.

Sophie nodded.

'That's good.' Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chuck lying facing her with a grin on his face. She gave him a wink before turning back to Sophie. 'Remember peek-a-boo?'

'Boo!' Sophie exclaimed enthusiastically.

'I want you to hide, and when I come looking for you, say _BOO!_ – '

Before she could finish her sentence, Sophie had already slid under the covers. Chuck took this as his cue and sat up, chuckling lightly. 'Hmm...where's Sophie?' he said, exagerating and drawing out his words.

There was no response, but he could feel Sophie squirming slightly under the covers. He began patting the covers gently around where Sophie was. 'Hmm...I feel a lump here. Maybe if I try tickling it – '

The squirming turned to thrashing, and suddenly, a head appeared from under the covers. 'Boo,' Sophie squealed.

'Ahh, there you are.'

'Boo,' Tyler mumbled through a yawn.

'Morning Ty,' Sarah said, laughing softly whilst shifting Tyler again so she could get a better look at his face. 'Are you ready to go to the beach today?'

Tyler yawned again as he nodded.

'What do we have at the beach?'

'Woof,' Tyler said, sticking his tongue out and trying to imitate the panting noise of a dog.

'No honey, that was the zoo,' Sarah said, referring to the small pet zoo the resort had on their premises. They went last night before dinner, and both twins really enjoyed playing with the animals, especially the little golden retriever puppy.

'Woosh.'

'That's right. Waves.'

* * *

**10:00am**

Chuck and Sarah decided to put the twins in the kids club for the morning. Their original plan was to go on a snorkling expedition Bryce had pre-booked for them, but the process they had to go through when dropping the kids off took longer than expected. They not only had to fill in all the registration forms, but they had to deal with two extremely clingly kids. When they were finally able to leave, they'd already missed the expedition – the boat had left without them.

Now, instead of going snorkling, they decided to hang out at the pool. They were lucky enough to be able to grab the last veranda with an extra large pool lounger, large enough for two people to sit on. Sitting down on the lounger, Sarah watched as Chuck stripped off his shirt and began to apply sunscreen to his body. She watched as he did his face, arms, legs and the front part of his torso. When he got to his back, she could tell he was having a little trouble reaching some spots. Letting out a small laugh, she leaned up and crawled over, placing a hand on his back. 'Here. Let me help you.'

'Thanks,' Chuck said, handing the bottle of sunscreen to her.

Sarah squeezed a little out on her hand and began applying it on his back. 'I can't believe Carina was right.'

'About what?' Chuck asked, craning his neck back to look at her.

'About us.'

Chuck laughed. 'They have been trying to set us up for a while.'

'I guess it worked.' Patting his back with one hand, she capped the bottle of sunscreen and placed it on the lounger. 'Done.'

'Thanks.' Twisting around, he snaked an arm around her hip as they both collasped back onto the lounger. In the process of doing so, he accidently poked her, and she let out a muffled squeal.

'Sarah?' Chuck questioned amusedly. He could see her face going redder by the moment. He poked her again and she squirmend in his arms. 'Agent Sarah Walker, the spy extraordinare is ticklish?' Chuck said through his laughter. 'After all the stories you've told me about missions you've been on, I thought – '

'What can I say? I guess you bring out the girl in me.'

'I want to see you in action one day.' His laughter slowly died down as the conversation took on a more serious tone

'I hope not, Chuck. It's dangerous out there.'

'I know,' he said. 'But you know,' he paused. 'How cool would that be? Seeing my girl kick ass.'

She chuckled. 'I just want to be Sarah,' she started as she placed a hand on his chest. 'Your Sarah.'

'My Sarah,' he repeated after her. 'I can't believe I got so lucky - '

'Chuck, I fell for you a long time ago. After that day we first spent together at the house, when you took care of me when I was sick.'

'Then what about – '

'I knew it all along but I spent some time convincing myself it would never happen, because the truth is, I have absolutely no experience with relationships. You're going to have to bear with me here,' she said, biting her lip as she ran her hand back and forth on his bare chest.

'Are you kidding? I barely have any experience either. You're my first proper girlfriend. I'm pretty sure we're on the same page.'

'Really?'

'Yeah. Don't worry. We'll take things slow.'

'Okay.'

'Love you,' he said quietly.

'Come on. Let's take a dip.'

* * *

**12:30pm**

Rounding the corner of the hallway, they arrived at the kid's club. Pulling the door open, Chuck allowed Sarah to enter before him before entering himself.

'Hi,' the receptionist greeted. 'Tyler and Sophie are just finishing off a project.'

'That's fine. We can wait,' Sarah said.

'They're almost done. I'll go get them for you.'

'Thanks.'

A few moments later, the twins came bundling down the corridor from the craft room with Sophie holding a sheet of paper in one hand. ''Hi guys,' Sarah said. 'Did you have fun?'

'U-huh,' Sophie said, whilst Tyler shouted, 'YES!'

'Do you want to show Mama and Dada what you made?' the receptionist asked.

'Oh no,' Sarah said. 'We're not their parents. We're their godparents.'

'Oh,' the receptionist said apologetically. 'I'm sorry.'

'It's okay,' Chuck said. Squatting down, he gently pulled the twins into his arms and took the piece of paper from Sophie's hand. 'What's this?' The piece of paper had two sets of handprints, and under each set was the name of a twin. Tyler held up a hand.

'Handprints?' Chuck asked.

The twins nodded in unison.

'For us?' He questioned, motioning to him and Sarah.

They nodded again.

'Why thank you. I think you guys did a great job.' Looking up, he handed the piece of paper to Sarah. 'What do you think, Sarah?'

'I agree,' she said. 'Are you guys hungry? Should we go grab some lunch?'

Chuck nodded as he straightened up and hoisted both twins up into his arms. 'Can you go bye-bye?'

* * *

**3:00pm**

'Come on buddy, let's go get some water for the moat,' Chuck said, picking up a bucket in one hand whilst motioning for Tyler to follow him with the other.

'Woosh,' Tyler babbled, whilst standing himself up slowly and toddling over to Chuck.

'That's right. The waves go _woosh_ against the sand,' Chuck said, taking Tyler by his hand. 'You ready? _Woosh_!' Chuck said, swooping him up into the air.

'Weeeeeee,' Tyler shrieked.

Sarah laughed. 'Look at them silly boys, Sophie.' She sat cross legged in the sand as she began to build the sand castle with Sophie. She taught the little girl how to scoop the sand up with the shovel and pour it into the bucket. Sophie could not stop giggling as she played in the sand.

Once the bucket was full, Sarah inverted the bucket onto the sand, creating a castle like building. She then began digging out the moat. She was so focused on the task she had on hand she didn't notice that Sophie had stopped playing with the sand and was staring at her.

'Mama.'

Sarah froze. Looking down, she finally realized that Sophie had paused with the sand and was watching her with an intent look on her face.

'Mama,' Sophie repeated again softly.

Feeling completely overwhelmed with emotion, she didn't know what to do. Sensing a sort of presence, she glanced up and saw Chuck walking towards her with Tyler toddling in front of him. 'How's the castle coming along?'

Tyler ran into Sarah's arms, and Sarah pulled him into her lap. As Chuck placed the bucket of water down and took a seat beside her in the sand, she brought a finger to her mouth. _Shh_.

'Mama,' Sophie repeated once more, before turning her attention to Chuck. 'Dada.'

Looking over, she searched Chuck's face for help. She could tell he was just as surprised as she was. To be honest, it was all a little overwhelming; but the truth was, they were essentially their parents now. Chuck gave her a slight nod.

'Yeah, baby girl,' Sarah said, reaching out a hand to gently stroke Sophie's head. 'Yeah, I guess we are sort of your mama and dada now.'

Sophie made no movement, but continued staring at them with a dazed look on her face. 'Come here, you little munchkin,' Chuck said, patting the space in his lap. Sophie happily obliged, crawling over into Chuck's lap.

'What about you, Tyler?' Sarah asked, looking down at the little boy in her lap who had started fiddling with the ends of her hair. 'Do you want us to be your mama and dada?'

Tyler nodded as he released the hair he was holding and looked up at Sarah. 'Hi.'

'Hi Tyler.'

'Hi,' he repeated, reaching up a hand to her face.

'Can you say ma-ma?' Sarah asked, sounding it out for him.

'Hi mama.'

'That's right,' she said, smooching him on the forehead before pointing at Chuck. 'Who's this?'

Tyler hesitated. He was the slower speaker of the two; it took him longer to get a grasp on words.

'Da-da,' Sarah said, sounding it out for him.

'Dada.'

* * *

**5:00pm**

'Go ahead, honey,' Sarah said, releasing Tyler's hand. Holding the door open with one hand, she gave him a little push, encouraging him to walk into the room. He began to toddle slowly down the hallway that led to the main area of the room. 'Good job, Ty.'

Standing in the doorway, she turned to Chuck and grabbed a few of the many beach toys he was holding to lessen his load. He had Sophie in his arms as well – she'd fallen asleep towards the end of their time at the beach, as she didn't take a long enough nap in the afternoon. Gently dumping the toys down in a corner, she moved aside to let him into the room. Once he was inside, she closed the door behind him. 'Should we do baths now?' He whispered, dumping the rest of the toys down in the corner.

'Yeah,' she responded, placing the room key down on the small table by the door. Moving over to Chuck, she ran a hand over Sophie's cheek. 'She's beat.'

'Yeah,' he said softly. 'I'll get the water running first.'

'Do you want me to take her?'

'Sure.'

As she took Sophie in her arms, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. 'I'll be a moment.'

'Okay.' She felt the corners of her lips tugging upwards as she watched him walk into the bathroom. Suddenly, she found something tugging at her leg. Looking down, she found Tyler clutching tightly onto her leg, something he always did when he was feeling scared. Leaning down as far as she could, she asked, 'What's the matter? Are you scared?'

The little boy nodded. 'It's okay,' she said, gently planting a kiss on the top of his had. 'I'm sure there's nothing scary here.' Hoisting Sophie up higher, she straightened up and took his hand in hers. 'Come on.'

As she walked down the hallway, she began to doubt her judgement. Something did feel wrong. Rounding into the main area of the room, she face to face with the source of Tyler's fear. There was a man sitting on the couch in the corner of the room with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

'Who are you?' Sarah demanded, pushing Tyler behind her and covering Sophie's head protectively with her hand.

The man stood up and held his hands over his head in a surrendering position. Please don't be threatened. I'm here to see Charles.'

Sarah panicked. She had two kids in tow and didn't have a weapon on hand.

Chuck couldn't hear the commotion over the running water. Once he was satisfied with the temperature of the water, he put the stopper in the drainage hole and left the bathroom to help Sarah with the kids.

The first thing he heard was Sarah talking rather loudly. 'Sarah?'

Then, he saw Tyler running down the hallway towards him. 'Tyler? What's the matter?' Scooping him up in his arms, he strided quickly down the hallway and into the main area of the room.

'Dad?' He exclaimed.

'Charles,' Stephen acknowledged.

'He's your father?' Sarah asked.

Tyler squirmed uncomfortably in his arms. Lowering his voice, he used a hand to shield his head protectively. 'Dad, what are you doing here?'

'Can we talk?'

'Uhh...' He snuck a look at Sarah. She gave him a soft nod, and reached over to take Tyler out of his arms. '...sure.'

'Here,' Stephen said, motioning towards the balcony.

Before walking over to his dad, he turned to Sarah. 'You okay?' He asked softly.

'Yeah.'

Reaching over, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze before turning to follow his dad out onto the balcony.

Sarah looked down at the two startled toddlers in her arms. 'Come on. Let's get you two cleaned.'

* * *

Once they were both out on the balcony, Stephen shut the balcony door. Turning around to face his father, Chuck asked, 'Dad, why are you here? How did you find me?'

Stephen took a step towards Chuck and said in a low voice, 'Son, this spy business you've become involved in is a dangerous business. You need to leave now.'

'First, how do you know about my work, and second, why should I listen to you?'

'Because I care about you, Charles. I don't want you to get hurt.'

'If you care about me so much, then why did you leave Ellie and I in the first place?'

'Son, it was complicated.'

'Dad, I haven't seen you in 20 years and suddenly you just show up...I feel like I don't even know who you are anymore,' Chuck said slowly, turning his back on Stephen and staring out at the ocean. 'But there's one thing I know. I'm not like you, dad. I don't give up and leave midway. I finish things.'

'Think about the kids. Your family.' Despite him being angry at his father for leaving so many years ago, he knew his father was right, and had been all along. It was a dangerous business and he shouldn't be involved, but he couldn't help it. 'Promise me, Charles. Promise me you'll leave after this project.' His voice softened to a whisper. 'I don't want you to become me.'

Chuck turned around. 'What was the last thing you said?'

'Nothing.'

Walking up to Chuck, Stephen slipped a small black box into Chuck's hand. 'Take this.'

'What is it?' Chuck asked, bringing the box up to his eye level and examining it. Sliding the lid off, he peered inside. It held a small silver device, with the letters C.I.P.H.E.R engraved on it. Chuck sucked in a breath. 'How did you get hold of this, dad?'

Silence. Stephen could tell that Chuck's wheels were turning. He'd always been a bright kid.

'Dad, are you Orion? Is that why you left?'

He nodded slightly as he lowered his voice. 'I've done a design of the Intersect for them before. It was all complete, but the one thing that always worried me was the potential it had to become a dangerous weapon if it fell into the wrong hands. I didn't want to take on such a responsibility, so I ran off with it.' He paused. 'Charles, the important thing is to do what they want. Do what they want and they'll let you go.'

'Dad, but what if it becomes too dangerous?'

'Don't worry, I've got a modified version configured on the device. I can track and control their every move.'

'If they find out, they're going to come after me.'

'Trust me, son. I've got it covered,' he said, taking the lid and sliding it back onto the box, and closing Chuck's palm around the box. 'Promise me you'll be out after this.'

'I promise.' Slipping the box in his back pocket, he wrapped his arms around his father. 'Dad, I missed you.'

* * *

Stepping back into the room, Chuck saw the twins running around in their diapers. They'd finished taking their baths, and Sarah was in the bathroom cleaning up.

Seeing Chuck step into the room, Sophie began to run towards him. 'My dada.'

Chuck squatted down and held his arms open for her to run into. When she reached him, he scooped her up into his arms. 'Hi Soph. You smell nice.'

Sophie shyed away and buried her face on Chuck's chest when Stephen came into sight. 'It's okay, honey. This is my dada –' Chuck began.

There was a loud crashing noise, followed by the sharp wails of a child's cries. Turning to the source of the noise, Chuck found that Tyler had tripped over one of his stuffed animals and was lying on the floor. Rushing over, he picked Tyler up off the ground but struggled to juggle both kids in his arms as he tried to check if Tyler was alright.

'Dad, can you take Sophie?' Chuck asked rhetorically as he walked over to where his dad was standing and plopped Sophie into his arms.

Now with one arm free, he began to check Tyler over. 'You okay honey?'

Tyler shook his head through his cries and buried his head onto Chuck's shoulder, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

'Can you show me where it hurts?'

Hesitantly, Tyler lifted his head up and pointed to his knee before returning his head to Chuck's shoulder. Upon examining Tyler's knee, Chuck found that a small bruise had formed where his knee had supposedly hit the ground. 'Aww...you got a boo-boo, didn't you? Here. Let daddy give it a kiss, and it'll all be okay.'

As Chuck gave Tyler's boo-boo a kiss, his cries slowly began to die down. At this moment, Sarah came rushing out of the bathroom with a small hand towel in her hand. Wiping her hands dry, she threw the towel to one side.

'Mama,' Sophie called. She had her thumb in her mouth and looked very uncomfortable.

'Here, I'll take her,' she said, rushing over to where Stephen was standing. Once she was close enough, Sophie latched her arms around her neck. Taking Sophie into her arms, she turned her attention to Chuck. 'What happened?'

'Tyler tripped and got a small boo-boo on his knee,' Chuck replied, running a hand down Tyler's back in attempt to soothe him. 'He's alright now...right buddy?'

Tyler took his head off Chuck's shoulder and rested it on his chest instead. 'Woof,' he said, looking up at Chuck.

'You want to see the puppy?'

Tyler nodded.

'We'll pay the zoo a little visit before dinner, okay?'

He nodded again as Chuck repositioned him in his arms. Sarah grabbed a couple of tissues and walked over, wiping the snot and tears off his face with them. Whilst she was doing so, Sophie spontaneously leaned over and gave Tyler a kiss on the cheek.

'Awww thank you, Sophie,' Chuck said.

Stephen shifted uncomfortably in the corner of the room. 'Charles?'

'Dad,' he said, shifting his attention to his father. 'Dad, this is my girlfriend Sarah.'

'Nice to meet you, Mr Bartowski,' Sarah said. 'Sorry, I don't really have a free hand now – '

'It's okay. Call me Stephen.' He noticed the bracelet dangling from her wrist. 'You must be very special.'

'I'm sorry?'

'The bracelet. I see you're wearing my wife's old bracelet.'

Sarah blushed as she looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. There was a moment of silence. 'Dad, would you like to stay for dinner?' Chuck asked hopefully.

'I don't want to be a bother – '

'No,' Sarah said. 'Of course not.'

Stephen took a look at his watch. 'It's okay. I really should start heading out. I'm on the next flight out at midnight.'

Sarah watched as Chuck's face fell slightly. 'Where are you going?'

'I'm sorry Chuck, but I can't tell you. Take care.'

* * *

**10:00pm**

Walking out of the bathroom, Chuck found Sarah sitting cross legged on the edge of the bed with her lips pursed, staring intently at the wall across the room. He could tell something was on her mind. 'What's the matter?' He asked softly as he took a seat beside her and lay an arm over her shoulder. She leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. 'Talk to me.'

'That encounter with your dad just now; those few seconds when I thought he was an intruder really got me thinking. Our lives are in constant danger in this business,' she paused. 'Is it the best for the kids?'

'I promised my dad I'd quit after I finish this project,' Chuck said quietly.

'How does he know about the project?' Sarah asked, looking up at him.

'He - he's Orion.'

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed. (: As always, don't forget to drop me a review on the way out.

Stay tuned for more Chuck and Sarah goodness!


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